Unhinged
by PineappleKoala
Summary: When Grell is attacked and left broken and unstable, William himself loses his cool and becomes a might unhinged. What happens when Will is forced to face old feelings he once ignored? And what happens when it causes him to go on a bloody warpath?
1. Attack

**Hey there, PineappleKoala here, just saying a few words real quick. **

**First off, this is my first Kuroshitsuji story, one I've had stuck in my head for a while. I use a combination of the Anime, Manga and OVA "The Tale of Will the Reaper" to form the character's personalities and will reference all of these things, so if you haven't seen or read one then I suggest you do so, cause some of it might confuse you. **

**This is rated M for a good reason, as there will be more graphic content later in the story. **

**Lastly, this is a GrellxWilliam fic, so don't like don't read. Oh yeah, and it's unBETA'd cause I don't have one anymore, so forgive any mistakes you find.**

**Enjoy!**

**-Pk**

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><p>There was a steady <em>click drip, click drip<em> down the halls echoed as the young man walked, his normally shining, beautifully taken care of blood-red hair lank by his sides. His hands hung loosely as well, his right gripping the remains of what looked like a heavy silver and red chainsaw. The blade was shattered and one of the chains was dragging on the floor, adding a scraping rattle to the footsteps. His normally bright, acid green eyes were lifeless and dull as he swept the large library, not really taking in that all the others in the place were staring at him. It wasn't like he could see them anyway; his brilliant red glasses were shattered and only hung on still because they were tangled in his hair by the broken ornamental chain. Black streaks ran down his face, mixing with the red pouring from under his hairline. Finally, he fell forward, dropping onto his knees and startling the Shinigami around him. His young apprentice, Ronald Knox, called his name as he fell before turning and running up the stairs, toward the offices, intent on getting the bleeding man help.

_London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady._

William T. Spears was sitting in his office, for once finishing his work on time. It was now almost five-thirty in the afternoon and he had not been interrupted by the nuisance Grell Sutcliff at all. William had given him an assignment and sent him out of the library early that day to make sure he wouldn't return until the end of the day. There was a mass death out in a small village that day because of a fire that was raging on the country side. It was the perfect excuse to send him away and get rid of him. He doubted that Grell would even be back before six. Stretching, William packed his files away in his desk, happy with the peaceful day. Reaching over he picked up his cup and took a sip of tea, jumping and slopping said tea when the door to his office slammed open. Ronald Knox burst in, flushed and panting. Disgruntled, he mopped the tea off his lap with a handkerchief.

"What, might I ask, is the rush Mr. Knox?" He asked, coldly. He was quite unhappy that someone had still barged into his office. Panting, Ronald looked up, white and pale everywhere that wasn't flushed. Concern furrowed William's brow as he stepped over to the young Shinigami. "Mr. Knox, what happened?" Ronald took several large, gulping breaths before wheezing out an answer.

"I…it's Grell!" He gasped, looking up at William with large, panicky eyes, starting to pull at his sleeve and trying to drag him down the hall. "He—he came back all hurt… bleeding… his death scythe is broken! He won't answer anyone. Please, come on!" With a mighty tug Ronald got William to move. William dashed ahead of him to the main hall in the library, a worried frown tugging his lips down and creasing his brow. What did that fool get into now? Did he go off assignment to pester those damn demons again? He wouldn't doubt it, but still. The fact that his scythe was broken was a bad sign; Grell loved that thing too much to let it get broken without one hell of a fight. They rounded a corner and what William saw devastated him.

Grell was standing inside a twenty-foot diameter circle of knocked out or semi-conscious Shinigami. What was left of his death scythe was embedded into the wall just to William's left, all the way up the stairs. The colour drained from William's face. The last time he had ever seen Grell display any fraction of how skilled and powerful he really was, was on their first assignment together and he had nearly taken William's life out of sheer annoyance. If he was unhinged enough now to be attacking his coworkers… One of them lunged for Grell again and William felt his cold demeanor fail.

"No, don't!" Too late. The man had his hands on Grell's neck from behind for just a moment before he was slammed forward in a whirl of red hair and tattered clothes. It was then that William saw how messed up Grell was. The normal red coat, a memento of Madame Red, was gone. So were his vest and the belts that normally adorned his upper arms. His hair was tangled and deep red, almost black, with his blood. His face was covered in gore and his glasses were tangled in his hair, his normally crisp white dress shirt red and tattered. Even his pants were damaged, ripped open to the thigh on one side and completely missing until just below his groin on the other; the belt that was normally synched around his waist was missing as well. Vicious claw marks adorned his legs and pretty much all the skin that was exposed in any way. The Shinigami that Grell had attacked was stirring, still too close for the deranged redhead's liking apparently as he swung out his right foot and connected it swiftly with the man's ribs, causing him to slide backward several feet before stopping amongst the others.

All this had taken place within the five minutes it had taken Ronald to get William and for the two to return.

"Grell!" Ronald called, the young man distraught. William knew that Ronald was quite fond of Grell, and often chose to work directly below him, despite being technically under William's command. Therefore, it was no surprise when he had to throw his arm out and knock the blonde down as he tried to get to the unstable Grell. "Stay here." William commanded. Ronald nodded as William started forward down the grand staircase. Immediately Grell's gaze snapped up to meet his and what he saw there made him freeze.

Grell was crying.

William had _never_ seen Grell cry before, no matter what the circumstances.

There was an unspeakable pain deep in Grell's acid green eyes, leaking out in the physical representation of tears, making the make-up run off his face. The false lashes were long gone, so the clear tears cut through the grime and gore, making little clean streaks through it. It near broke William's heart to see Grell so broken. What did this to him? Did he run into trouble with the assignment William had assigned him? Guilt tore as his mind. He should have sent Ronald with Grell to take care of it. Now the man was so messed up he didn't even realize that he was attacking his fellow Shinigami. William couldn't believe himself as he slowly started down the stairs again, his hands raised in a show of peace.

"Grell… Calm down. What happened?" He asked, watching the redhead's fists clench. _His gloves are missing too…_ William was truly uneasy. The man took good care of his clothes. For him to be missing so much of his normal, outrageously flamboyant outfit was unheard of. If he was a woman he would have suspected rape… but that was impossible. Who could possibly lay a hand on Grell without getting the chainsaw? But his scythe was broken. Whatever had attacked him was not human. William knew it wasn't a Shinigami. He was fairly certain that it wasn't an angel either, the brutality was too much to be an angel. So that meant…

William had reached the bottom of the stairs and breached Grell's twenty foot diameter ring.

The head Shinigami had just enough time to duck as Grell's left leg went sailing over his head. Rolling to the side, William narrowly escaped getting his glasses—and ultimately his eye—gouged off his face by Grell's perfectly sharpened ruby-red nails. Grell's eyes flashed dangerously again as he fell into a crouch and swung low with his right leg, causing William to jump up and out of the way. That turned out to be a mistake as the faster, much more skilled Grell sprang out of his crouch and smashed his head into William's stomach, winding the black haired man and knocking him to the ground in the middle of the ring where Grell had been seated before. His nose wrinkled as he looked at the puddle of blood he landed in as Grell landed approximately eight feet from him. William had to repress a hysterical laugh when the shattered remains of Grell's red glasses clattered to the floor, falling almost comically out of his hair. It was then he noticed that Grell wasn't coming towards him.

Laying perfectly still, William examined him, noting how Grell was cradling his left leg, keeping most of his weight on his right one. That made him stop and think; Grell hadn't used his left leg for anything strenuous at all. He swung once at Will's face with that leg, but other than that everything had been done with his arms or right leg. Grell had supported his weight while crouched on his hands and sprung up only once his right leg was back under him. He had even landed on his right foot before standing there. Hesitating only a second, William sprung from his prone position straight forward, barreling into Grell with his full weight, knocking the slighter man down and causing a horrifying shriek to tear through the redhead's throat. William rolled again, backwards this time and off Grell, ready to defend himself. A startled cry issued from the top of the stairs where Ronald stood, now clutching Grell's broken chainsaw.

"Sir, look!" Ronald was pointing at Grell. The redhead had curled into a fetal position, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably, causing the tattered dress shirt to rise up and expose his back. On the left side, from his hip down to his knee was a huge, torn gash in Grell's leg, reopened by the impact William had caused and now oozing blood. He recognized the jagged, horrible wound anywhere. That was a chainsaw gash. More accurately, that was a gash caused by Grell's chainsaw. Horrified, William stood, staring at the wound. Grell's chainsaw was heavy, hard to use and even harder to control when on. No mortal could have done that. No mortal could have been able to lift the scythe, let alone swing it. Even William himself had a hard time with it. Hell, it had taken all he had to catch it when that demon, Sebastian had thrown it at him. He knew Ronald had one of the heaviest scythes as well and even Ronald had serious trouble with Grell's chainsaw. The red reaper seemed to have given up his fight for cradling what he could of his leg, trying in vain to stop the bleeding. The adrenaline seemed to have run out and Grell slumped there, bleeding. The Shinigami surrounding him and playing dead saw this and cautiously got up, heaving knocked out friends up with them and scattered until there was only Will, Grell and Ronald left. The blonde came running down the stairs, what was left of the chainsaw dropping out of his hands and clattering on the floor.

"Grab his arms." William said, trying to fix his cold façade back onto his face. In truth he was still utterly shaken, but he had to get Grell up to the infirmary before he went farther into shock. "I'll grab his legs." Walking over to Grell, he bent down, brushing, and in some cases pulling, the hurt man's hair off his face before bending down and speaking very low and calm into his ear. "Grell, I'm so sorry. It's going to hurt, but we have to lift you. Is that okay?" Grell nodded, casting those sad, acid toned eyes on William's face. He tried unsuccessfully to wipe the tears from his face, just smearing the makeup and blood on his face more. He muttered something quietly, carefully. Leaning closer, William tried to catch was he was saying.

"…sorry William. Was just trying to do a good job. Finished early… wanted to visit a grave… he was there… got attacked… 'M so sorry Will, he took all the souls I collected…" Grell sighed and his eyes drooped, tears still leaking from them. "'M so sorry…" The delicate form slumped and relaxed as Grell fell into unconsciousness. Looking at his long time companion, William felt the rage and bloodlust rise in his veins. Grell was a pain in the ass but he didn't deserve this, not by a long shot. Calling Ronald over, he maneuvered Grell into the blonde's arms without jostling him too much, before carefully grabbing his legs, high up on the thigh, letting one calf dangle on either side of his waist. Still pale, Ronald managed a quiet chuckle, earning a dark glare from William as they carefully worked their way up the stairs. Most of the Shinigami were gone for the day, including the nursing staff, so William would have to tend to Grell as best he could himself. It's not like he couldn't; Shinigami healed extraordinarily quick and all of them knew how to fix themselves up fairly well. Typically the nurses were just people on leave from reaping for one reason or another. Directing his gaze back to the blonde once they were up the stairs, William scoffed.

"What, by the love of god, is so funny?" He practically growled. Ronald clammed up and started sputtering, annoying William more. "Well?"

"I was just… I was thinking how much of a kick Grell will get out of you having wrapped his legs around your waist when he gets better." The blonde looked mortified for having to say it out loud and seemed to shrink before William. The black haired Shinigami scoffed and kept walking, a very nervous Ronald supporting the other half of Grell's deceptively heavy weight. Lady or no in his own mind, Grell was a man, and thusly was built like one. Finally, they reached the airy, spacious infirmary. Settling Grell first onto a metal examination table, William and Ronald turned the unconscious redhead onto his stomach. Ronald fetched a bowl of hot water and washcloths as William carefully cut away the remaining cloth from Grell's waist and body with a pair of scissors.

"Here, Sir. Is there anything else?" Ronald asked, nervously. William looked him over before nodding.

"Yes. Go collect his death scythe and put it in my office. After that, get someone to help you clean up the blood." Ronald nodded and went to leave, halfway out the door before William spoke up again. "Oh, and gather up the remains of his glasses and take them to be fixed by Father. The chain too." Ronald nodded again and with a hasty "yessir!" departed, leaving William to clean and patch Grell. Silently, he went to work.

Grell's wounds, for the most part were clean and easy to deal with, if somewhat disturbing. Most of them seemed to be claw marks, aside from the one on his skull (which looked like he went flying backwards into something big, stone and hard) and of course the chainsaw gash on his left side. Carefully, he washed, dried and covered each one in ointment before bandaging him up. Finally, the only thing that was left was Grell's blood sticky hair and scalp. Wrapping the man in a medical gown, William lifted him, settling him in a rolling chair and wheeling him in front of the sink before leaning him back so his head was under the faucet. He turned the water on so it was medium hot and proceeded to rinse the long red locks.

_Huh, even this soaked, it's coming clean easy. _ He thought, running his gloveless hands through Grell's long hair. He watched as all the blood ran down the sink and examined the cut on Grell's scalp. It wasn't more than a split in the skin, not even truly needing bandages. It was already closed up. Taking a washcloth, he ran the hot water over it and cleaned the makeup, blood and tears off Grell's face. It had been a long time since William seen him without all the extra stuff on his face. In fact, he didn't think he had seen Grell be distinctly male like he used to since their first mission was done.

_He was so unruly then… thought of humans as such vile creatures… they were lower on the food chain to him than to the rest of us. What happened, Grell, to the classmate that was so confident? What happened to the young man with flame coloured hair and a smug face._ William let his thoughts drift as he dried off Grell's face and hair as best he could, hefting the red reaper again and settling him into one of the beds. He brushed a damp lock off Grell's face, examining the bruise on his forehead. _Without that silly grin plastered on his face, he really does just look… sad. What made you so sad all the time Grell? What made you lose the confidence I so admired in you? Your eyes are always set in a miserable way now…_ William was wrenched from his thoughts as Ronald walked through the door.

"Sir?" He asked. William turned his cold eyes towards Ronald, but not before Ronald caught the concerned expression on William, the faraway face. He cleared his throat and spoke nervously. "I have those who are on janitorial duty cleaning up the hall. The remains of the death scythe are on your desk and I took Father Grell's glasses. He said that they're not able to be repaired, so he's going to be making Grell a new pair." Looking down into his arms, he held the small bundle of clothes out to William. "And I brought new clothes for him for once he wakes up." William nodded and took the clothing, setting it gently on the bedside table. The silence thickened and Ronald shifted uncomfortably. "Is there anything else, sir?"

"That will be all." William stated with finality. "I will be staying here to monitor him and get a statement when he wakes." Pulling around a chair next to the bed, William sat and crossed his legs, producing a book to read out of nowhere. Ronald, recognizing the dismissal, turned and left the room, closing the door quietly. As soon as he was gone, William looked up; his book closed and held loosely on his lap. The stoic Shinigami gazed at his sleeping comrade again.

_I wonder… do you still remember what you did for me that day, Grell? The day I nearly failed the exam, had you not come to save me? It was the smallest gesture, but it meant a great deal to me. I couldn't tell you, no matter what, because I had finally found a friend. You stopped, even thought you were better than me, and perched my glasses back upon my nose. I remember your smile. I miss that smile. It was calm and caring and soft. You didn't show off your teeth like you do now. Of course I was young then. I didn't know myself like I do now. I wish I hadn't have said the awful things I had back then. After the soul was collected…_

"_We did pretty good back there, Will. I've never had someone have the balls to stand up to me, let alone work with me for so long." Grell smiled. Not wide enough to show off his razor-teeth but just enough. He was happy. "We're quite a team, you and me. Like the brilliant actors in a play writ only for us to play, and the whole world is watching because it is both the stage and the audience."_

"_Idiot." I muttered. This guy was no more than a clown, I had thought. But I had known that it was nice to have someone to talk to that respected me. _

"_Such a cold man, Will!" Grell had laughed and stared at me with those acid-tone eyes. "A guy like me could really fall in love with a man like you, William."_

"_What an odd thing to say." I had scoffed at him, brushed him off, even though that was the first time I had heard anyone say they loved me. "You shouldn't say such things. Only a lady is supposed to tell a man they love him." There. That was the first time I had ever seen that face. The sad eyes and the flash of all those deadly teeth. _

"_A lady, huh?" He hadn't said anything after that to me for a while._

"Come to think of it…" William muttered to the prone form of Grell, "You didn't say anything to me until after we got our glasses from Father the next day. By then you were wearing heels and had started to call yourself a lady." William stared out the window on the other side of Grell's bed at the rising crescent moon. "Is it my fault that you're like this?" He pondered. Silently, William stared out the window, watching the moon rise long into the night, lost in his thoughts. Slowly, ever so slowly he fell forward, falling asleep where he sat, until he finally slumped onto Grell's bed.

_London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London bridge is falling down, my fair lady. _

"Mmf." William tried to chase away the irksome tune bothering his sleep. He ached, everywhere and just wanted to fall back out so he wouldn't ache anymore. He didn't know why he did in the first place, but he did.

_London Bridge is falling down…_

Irritated, William buried himself farther into the warmth that he was laying on.

_Falling down… falling down…_

Wait. Something wasn't right and it was gnawing at the back of his brain. There was something important he was supposed to be doing.

_London Bridge is falling down…_

Wait. Wait a minute…

_My fair lady…_

Grell!

William jerked up, sending his book skidding across the infirmary floor and under Grell's bed. The redhead was awake, staring out the window at the rising sun, not even acknowledging that William had been sleeping on his belly. The stoic reaper collected himself and shoved his shock aside, turning professionally towards Grell like he hadn't just spent the entire night sitting up beside him then falling asleep on him. Only, Grell didn't even move. He just stared out the window, his face blank and empty. It was like the lights were on, but no one was home. Clearing his throat, William took a small notebook from his inside pocket, along with a pen, and tried to get Grell to pay attention.

"Well, Sutcliff, since you're awake now, I'd like a detailed report of what happened." He said in his best authoritative tone. Grell didn't even flinch. Taken aback, William frowned, trying again. "Come on Sutcliff, I don't have time for your games. We have to go deal with whoever did this to you, before even more of us get attacked." Again, Grell ignored him, staring blindly out the window. William was just about to start yelling when the door to the infirmary opened.

"Mr. Spears? Sir?" It was Ronald. William looked back and was startled, just for a moment to see Ronald standing before a very solemn looking retired Shinigami. The Undertaker was standing with his arms crossed behind the nervous apprentice. "He says he witnessed something that may be relevant to what happened to Grell." The blonde stepped back, allowing the older man to pass by him, the long silver hair sweeping behind him. William cocked on eyebrow at the respectable retiree.

"You saw something?" He asked, his pen readied. The Undertaker nodded, settling himself down on the bed on the other side of William, opposite of Grell. The redhead didn't even react, worrying William even more, as he knew that Grell was quite fond of the eccentric man. The Undertaker nodded quietly.

"Yes," He started, folding his hands together and crossing his legs. "I was working last night in one of the graveyards, preparing a grave, you see, for one of my customers, when what do I see other than young Grell Sutcliff, walking through it with a bouquet of red roses." He glanced (or seemed to as William could not be sure he could see through all that hair) over at Grell, looking troubled, before starting again. "Poor thing. He was bringing roses to a certain Madame it turned out, you see, to Miss Angelina Durless. He stayed their quite a while, just talking to her. It seemed he was quite filled with remorse at killing her. I heard him say several times that he missed her, the poor dear, that no one understood him like she did. Hours he stayed there, the whole afternoon. Of course, that turned out to be a mistake." He paused, glancing at the non-responsive Grell again. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw who the next visitor to the cemetery was. It had been near on five years since I have seen the late Earl Phantomhive or his butler. But there they were. And when they got to the Madame's grave, they started shouting, arguing with dear Grell. I saw the Earl and his butler both attack Grell and tried to go help, but you see, the priest came out and started asking me about the screaming. I tried to get away but he was having none of it and I didn't want my cover blown. I told them that a former lover of Madame Red was visiting her grave and ran into a family member that didn't like him, so they started arguing. Which was, of course, true." The Undertaker shrugged, taking a glass of water from the table behind William and drinking it. William blinked, trying to absorb the information.

"Former lover? You mean Sutcliff? But he's-"

"There's an exception to every rule and a rule to every exception, m'dear, and the Madame was Grell's exception. I know he was with her for a long time. He was with her, after all, for the entire two and a half years he was gone*. Came in with her to make sure I took good care of the Phantomhive bodies, after all. But that's not the point, now is it?" William shook his head, feeling foolish.

"I apologize. Please continue."

"Very well. It was like I said, the Earl Phantomhive showed up with his butler and they were both chasing the dear down. By the time I had dodged the priest, they were gone. I was quite worried though, so once I got everything taken care of, I came here. After all," He paused, looking concerned. "The Earl wasn't a little boy anymore." It dawned on William, then, just what the Undertaker was implying.

"Ciel Phantomhive is a full-fledged demon." He muttered, his cold façade threatening to break as the rage and bloodlust burned deep in him. "Those damn demons attacked Grell. Made him like this!" His face fell to the rage and both Ronald and the Undertaker shivered with fear at the dark, deadly look. Grell, oblivious, just stared out of the window. It was horrible to see him like this and the last of William's cold facade fell away, and a horrible snarl ripped from his throat.

"I'm going to kill them. I'm going to _fucking kill them_!"

There was no hope for either demon now, and both Shinigami present knew it. It was only a matter of time before William got to them.

They just prayed Grell didn't get any worse before he did.

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><p><strong>*Okay, so I bet everyone is like, wtf are you talking about? Well, it's simple: I did the math based on what Madame Red remembers as she's dying and took creative initiative from there. If you remember, she meets Grell shortly after Ciel's parents die, and that she says that it's months after that that Ciel is found again, then that Sebastian has been with Ciel for 2 years. So add it up and that's 2 years and some odd months that Grell was playing serial killer with her. <strong>

**ALSO, Grell himself said he loved Madame Red, so I thought it worked well into the story. If you don't like it, too bad, cause I think she's the only woman that could ever be with Grell and make sense. But she's dead now so it doesn't matter anyway. **

**Remember to review lovies! I love hearing feedback. **

**Ta~ **

**-Pk**


	2. Awakening

**Just really quick, I want to thank all of you who reviewed and subscribed for your wonderful support! I also want to say that me updating this quickly is fairly uncommon so don't be surprised to see larger gaps. **

**But again, thank you and enjoy!**

**-Pk**

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><p>It was the loud crash of something very heavy being whipped across a room that finally brought Grell out of the depths of his mind.<p>

"I'M GOING TO KILL THOSE FUCKING DEMONS!"

"Mr. Spears, sir, calm down!" Ronald and the silver haired retiree, the Undertaker, were holding a struggling William back as he thrashed, his death scythe in one hand and the other shoving against the irate older man's face, trying to knock him off. For a moment, Grell was confused, before his sluggish mind caught up, and his heart swelled. William, cold, stoic William was furious at the demons that attacked him. He was going out on a vengeance run to kill them because they hurt him. It almost brought tears to his eyes, he was so happy.

Then, all at once, that happiness was shattered.

"I'm going to kill those demons for smearing the Shinigami name! They attacked one of my employees for the last time, now they die! So LET GO!" William growled through clenched teeth. Grell felt his heart break. For a single moment, he thought that William finally cared. Of course he was wrong. Will just cared that the Shinigami looked weak. Well, he was done. He was done pining. He was done being a lady for Will. He was going to be himself. His strong, violent, cruel self. So what if he was a little effeminate? It didn't mean he couldn't be the _guy_ he was. No matter how girly that guy was. And he was going to start by being the guy that can whip William's ass.

"Enough." Grell snarled, baring his teeth. William stopped, staring back at Grell as the other two released him. Ronald looked relieved to the point of tears and even Undertaker looked glad the redhead had woken up. Probably cause it had gotten William to stop pushing at his face.

"Sutcliff—"

"Shut. Up." William blanched at the cruel sound of Grell's voice. He hadn't heard that voice in years, since the days at the Academy. Grell was standing at his bed, head tilted to one side as he tried to see them. Noticing the pile of clothes on the bedside table, he rummaged through them. They were his back-ups, for just this type of occasions. He had told Ronald where to find them and given him an extra key months ago. After all, he trusted Ronald. Fishing the spare glasses out of his vest pocket, he placed them on his face and fanned his hair out from the chain, before pulling on the pants under the medical gown.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Sutcliff?" William asked, his face back to his normal, perturbed look. Grell rolled his eyes, clicking his tongue before removing and tossing the gown down on the bed. Typical. Trying to command him, even now. Well, Grell Sutcliff was not having it anymore. It was time that Mr. Stick-up-his-ass was put in his place. William adjusted his glasses, standing ramrod straight and obviously waiting of an answer.

"What am I doing?" Grell barked out a laugh, baring his fangs again. "What am I doing? I'm getting dressed. Then I'm finding my fucking chainsaw and replacing the blade. After that, I'm leaving and going to massacre the Earl Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis. And after _that,_ I'm coming back here, taking a long bath, and sleeping for several hours. Undisturbed." Grell threw his dress shirt on, buttoning it with quick, precise movements and pulling his vest on next. Finally, he sat on the bed, wincing slightly as his skin protested, and put his boots on. William bristled, adjusting his glasses.

"Sutcliff, sit down and rest, you're in no condi—" He started, only to come face to face with a furious Grell.

"Shut the fuck up William! I am tired of taking your orders!" Grell shoved William back, making the black haired man stumble. "You berate me," _shove,_ "abuse me," _shove, _"use me," _shove, _"send me into dangerous missions without any regard for my safety," _shove, shove, shove,_ "and finally, you. Broke. My. Heart." Too late did William realize what was coming next.

Grell reared his right fist back and smashed it into William's jaw, knocking the man backwards and onto the floor unceremoniously. William stared up with wide eyes, his glasses askew, as Grell stalked over to him, swinging back his left leg with a maniacal grin on his face, smashing his foot into William's stomach, winding him. Baring his shark-like fangs, he growled at William something that had never been known to anyone but the two of them, and the committee members that had paired them together.

"I'm not taking your shit anymore, you fucking B student! I was a damn AAA student and frankly, it's beneath me!" With a final kick to William's stomach, he stood, straight, fixing his shirt and vest, before smiling sweetly at Undertaker and Ronald, who was half hidden behind the taller Shinigami. "Make sure he's alright, Ronnie, dear. He had that coming and I'm sure he's going to fire me for it, but I don't care." He made his way to the door before pausing and turning back, the shift of his hair when he looked back at them making the bruises on his face stand out. "Oh, by the way. Do either of you know was happened to my chainsaw?"

"I—i—i—it's on William's desk!" Ronald babbled, pale and slinking farther behind the retired man. The Undertaker was currently poking William in the ribs with the toe of his boot, not actually paying attention to either of them and giggling hysterically at William's twitching. Grell smiled widely before walking out of the room, back straight and head held high, instead of his normal submissive hunch. Ronald had a newfound fear for Grell now, even as he gained much more respect for his favourite superior.

Pace brisk, with only the slightest limp allowed, Grell made for his room. He didn't care that he had hurt William; William had hurt him enough to deserve it. Now it was Grell's time to be on top. And he didn't care if it meant losing his job in the Shinigami Library. He would take his death scythe, his extra blades and chains and all his clothes and go find a nice place in the mortal realm to wreak havoc. Maybe start a Jack the Ripper cult. That would be fun. And he would have a new oil painting done of Madame Red, using the photographs that were taken with his camera and keep it hanging in his room so he could tell her of all the things he was accomplishing because he felt inspired to be as strong as she was.

Well, until she weakened and he set her free.

But that was beside the point. Grell grinned, winking at his (former?) coworkers as he passed them, all of them blanching and most of them finding something very important to do in the opposite direction as him. Finally, he made it to his assigned rooms, opening the door quickly and stepping in. the rooms were doused in red, from redwood floors, desk, doors and shelves, to the red painted walls and coloured drapes and even the framed photo of Madame Red he had taken when he first met her, with her long hair down and flowing. He stopped and smiled at the photo before picking the other one up, one that Ronnie had taken not so long ago, of a confused looking William and himself embracing the black haired man from behind. He looked at it for a second before a wave of heartbreak swelled to the surface, manifesting as rage. His rooms were too small to allow proper distance to throw it, however, so instead, he opened the door and whipped it with all his strength down the hall, making it shatter against the far wall, better than 300 yards away from his door. The sheer velocity of the throw caused the shattered glass to tear the delicate paper apart.

Grell stood there for a second, staring at the faintly twinkling glass. He was sick to his stomach with the pain of hundreds of years of longing, hundreds of years of hope, hundreds of years of rejection. He allowed himself one final howl, vocalizing everything he felt in that moment, before smashing his left fist into the stone wall next to the door. The stone cracked and crumbled, falling apart and leaving a crater-like hole in the shape of his knuckles. Wincing, he nursed his bruised hand and went back inside, straight back to the main bedroom. From there he opened a beautiful mahogany trunk at the foot of his bed, letting the lid rest against his bed frame, staring down at the shining silver-toned steel inside. He had six spare blades he had made from fragments of his old death scythe, along with corresponding chains. He had made the lot of them when he had been working with Madame Red, during the off time between the murders. Carefully, he grabbed one of each and set them on his bed, before moving about and gathering the missing pieces from his outfit.

Grell plopped down in front of his vanity, carefully applying concealer and his false lashes, before putting on his mascara and liner. Then, he dragged his brush through his hair, stopping then to wonder how it got clean. How he got clean in general. He shrugged, dismissing it. It was probably Ronald, after all, he would have cleaned Grell up and brought him his clothes. Sure as hell wasn't William. He scoffed, fluffing his hair, before reaching into the middle drawer on the right and pulling out a red and white satin ribbon. With quick and knowing movements, he fastened the bow around his neck where it belonged. He was already starting to feel like himself again as he stood, walking to his coat stand and grabbing his old black longcoat off the rack, fishing a pair of black gloves out of the pocket. He slipped them on, grabbing the stuff to repair his scythe of the bed and walked out of the bedroom, then the rooms themselves. Slinging the chain around his neck, he proceeded to William's office.

_First thing I'm going to do is get my fucking coat back. How dare they take it._ Grell growled lightly to himself. He was sick and tired of being everyone's doormat and goddammit, he wanted his red coat back. First the little Phantomhive brat picked a fight with him. Then he _ordered_ Sebastian to pick a fight with him. Then the two cowards ganged up on him, took his coat, used his chainsaw to slice through his ass—his _ass_, of all things!—then broke the saw trying and failing to kill him. So when the little brat couldn't kill him, he proceeded to beat Grell while he was down, unable to walk. Vaguely, he thought he had recalled a nursery rhyme playing somewhere as he was beaten. He frowned, irritated as it played in his head.

_London Bridge is falling down…_

He didn't know why he was remembering the stupid little song, but he was, and as he rounded the corner from the worker's quarters and headed to the worker's offices, it played more insistently.

_Falling down…_

There was a deep, throbbing pain in his lower back he hadn't noticed before, but seemed vaguely familiar…

_Falling down…_

He had gotten to William's office and went in, still bothered by that stupid child's song. But it didn't matter, so he shook his head and walked up to Will's desk, his chainsaw looking sad and pathetic on the top of it. He grinned, happy the motor had survived and proceeded to open it up, cleaning the interior before hooking up the new chain and blade, tossing the old ones in the trash with a loud thump. He smiled, grabbing the chainsaw and revving it up, feeling the power as he oh so happily used it to cut through Will's desk. He watched the desk collapse in on itself gleefully.

_London Bridge is falling down…_

Grell blanched. It seemed like he was forgetting something, and for a good reason. He started shaking and froze, his scythe going still as he turned it off, wide eyes and frightened. He didn't want to remember this…

"_My fair lady…" Sebastian sing-songed at him, pinning him down to the cobblestone alleyway, leaned close to his ear. His chainsaw was broken, seeing as the little demon had lost control of it and its chain broke, causing the blade to shatter as well. He was pissed about it, and about the burning sensation in his left asscheek that wasn't helping at all. But most of all, he was scared. Sebastian had already managed to steal Madame Red's coat, claw his vest off, yank his gloves off and tear off his left pant leg just below his butt. He was not happy. He needed out. He hadn't even done anything, dammit! He had brought flowers to a friend's grave, like he did every year! They already consumed all the souls from the chainsaw once it broke. What more did they want?_

"_Sebastian." Ciel was glaring down at Grell with malice in his eyes. The midnight blue hair was swept back, making the older teen boy look more adult. He was still short, but not nearly as much as he was. Standing as tall as Ronald now, and built somewhat similarly, he looked like he could finally take care of himself. Grell did not like it. _

"_Yes, young master?" The raven haired demon smiled at his master, clearly expecting the order to kill the Shinigami. Grell's eyes widened, afraid. _

"_He's been flirting with you for years," Ciel smiled his trademark sadistic little grin. "Why don't you give him what he wants?" Sebastian looked vaguely disgusted, but Grell thrashed, trying to get the heavier man off him. _

"_No! No let me go! Get off! I didn't do anything! You wouldn't hurt a lady like that would you?" He couldn't get away, his hands were pinned behind his back, under the knee Sebastian had on the small of his back. _

"_Sir?" The older demon asked, more than a little disgust evident in his voice. Ciel chuckled and Grell heard something snap. He saw half of Ciel's cane fall to the ground, the one with the handle, in his peripheral vision. _

"_Use this. No need to soil your body on him. Who knows what kind of diseases the little whore has." Grell heard Ciel chuckle and felt Sebastian's unease. But he knew that Sebastian would obey without hesitation. Frantic, he shoved up, trying to knock him off. _

"_Don't! Don't do this, just let me go! Just let me leave!" He couldn't help himself. Sebastian outweighed him by 50 pounds and with his hands bound and his left leg not holding weight, there was no way he could get out. Ciel's leg came into view and desperately, he latched onto it with his last available weapon—his razor-sharp, shark-like teeth. Ciel yelped and Grell felt Sebastian grab the back of his head, smashing his face into the cobblestones, shattering his glasses and sending him into soon into darkness, but not soon enough to miss the sharp pain of the cane being impaled into his trapped form. _

_My fair lady…_

Grell was shaking, his mind so shocked that his body could not even bring tears into his eyes. He stared blankly forward, at the heaping remains of Will's desk, feeling violated. The whole time it had been done to him, he was only semi-conscious, but that song, _that song_, the little brat had been humming it the entire time he watched. Acidic bile rose in Grell throat and he spun to the left, letting it flow into William's trashcan, on top of the broken saw bits. He almost couldn't believe it. Demons were vile, but Grell never knew they were this vile. He couldn't move, his legs wouldn't respond, as he fell to his knees, shaking uncontrollably. He wanted nothing more to cry, but the tears wouldn't flow. They just wouldn't come. So instead, he stared blankly until he heard the door to Will's office open.

"Ohh, I would've expected him to be long gone by now, wouldn't you agree, m'dear?" The Undertaker was first through the door, supporting William by clutching his upper arm. William looked to his ruined desk and then to Grell's saw, then to Grell himself before turning an interesting shade of magenta with fury. As calm as he could, he spoke.

"Ronald, go take that thing away from him. Carefully." William ordered, standing himself as straight as he could by himself. One arm was still clutching his stomach, but he was succeeding. Ronald nodded, looking at Grell warily. The man was just staring ahead like he had been earlier in his room, before turning and looking at Ronald. That immense, unfathomable pain was back in Grell's eyes, combined with a shell-shocked blankness. It was unnerving.

"Okay, Grell. Easy does it. I want you to hand me the death scythe, then we'll get you back to bed. You really don't look well." Ronald squatted next to Grell, trying to get his attention. Slowly, he reached out to touch the unstable redhead. "Grell?" Ronald's fingers brushed Grell's arm and all hell broke loose.

All at once, Grell sent Ronald flying backwards, having smacked him in the stomach with the heavy back of his chainsaw, and into Undertaker, who did his best to catch the poor young thing. Both young and old went sprawling backwards into William's closed door as Will himself ducked and rolled (_this is how many times in the last two days? anymore practice and I'll be able to just curl up and roll around _)off to the side to avoid them. Still somewhat winded, he paused there and watched as Grell scrambled backwards, still on the floor, until he was backed into a corner. Only then did he rev his scythe and with a frantic look of utmost fear etched in those acid-tone eyes, hold it trembling out in front of him.

"_Don't touch me! Don't touch me!_" Grell shrieked, panicked and holding the saw unsteadily in trembling arms. William forced himself to his feet just in time to see Ronald being hauled up by Undertaker, the little blonde having a furious look on his face. Grell didn't miss the motion either, and, blindly, swung the saw in their direction, making a large slice in the floor in front of him, before pointing it back at William with shaky hands.

"What the hell!" Ronald yelled at Grell, making the redhead flinch and turn in his scythe in his direction. "I was just trying to help you!" Furious, he took a step towards Grell, the panicked redhead swinging the scythe menacingly again, this time cleaving a gash in William's newly-installed bookshelf, before getting blocked off by William's shears. Looking at his boss, the young blonde backed off, grumbling under his breath. With a click, the shears were retracted, though they were still aimed to block Ronald's path, should he need to.

"Undertaker." William said, gaining the silver haired Shinigami's attention. The retiree looked at him (he assumed, at least, seeing as his eyes were not visible but his head was turned in Will's direction) before humming curiously. William adjusted his glasses with the tips of his shears, then lowered them again. "I'd like to ask you a favour. I want you to take Ronald down to the Mortal Realm and see what you can dig up on the demons, Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis." Undertaker hummed again, seeming to consider it.

"But what do I get?" The retiree asked. William expected this and his lips almost quirked into a grin before falling back into his normal façade.

"I personally seek out and find you a collection of the world's best jokes and compile them into a book so you can read them at your whim." He said, still watching the trembling Grell. William was fairly sure that he would soon become one with the corner if he didn't act quickly. Or he would finish carving up his bookshelf. The Undertaker mulled this over for a second before beaming at William.

"It's a deal. Now come along m'dear. We have work to do." The silver haired Shinigami took Ronald by the arm and steered him away. Ronald was still red in the face and quite agitated, now actively glaring at Grell, so William was happy to see him go. They really were just making the whole situation worse by hanging around. Sighing, he turned to Grell. He knew that look. Knew that pose. What he had feared was true; now he just had to snap Grell out of it, somehow. Carefully, he approached Grell until only the shattered remains of his desk where between them. Grell's scythe was pointed directly at William's face. Letting his arms fall to the side, his façade dropped, leaving only a weary man with tousled black hair and a concerned look on his face. Grell faltered slightly, the chainsaw drooping.

"Sutcliff, I—" Will started, only to get his own teacup whipped into his head. Not expecting it, he didn't have time to dodge this time and it shattered against his forehead, little pieces getting stuck in his messy hair. Grell had dropped his chainsaw (to William's horror just letting it slice deep into the floor again) and thrown the nearest thing to him at Will's head. William was very glad, however, that he hadn't thrown the chainsaw.

"Call me by my fucking name William! It's not like we haven't known each other for, what? Three and a half centuries!" Grell screamed, this time (thankfully) turning off the saw and whipping his own pencil mug at him. William dodged his time, hearing it shatter against the wall. Next went his teacup saucer, his paperweight, his wax sealer, his inbox tray, his—

Nothing else came next. William had seen Grell raise his arm and had ducked below the desk fragments, but now, nothing went flying. He chanced a peek over the desk at the redhead.

Grell's acid coloured eyes were staring intently at a photo that had fallen out of his daily log. It was a small thing, nothing fancy but Grell was staring intently at it. William knew what it was and wanted to snatch it away, but with Grell's right hand—his dominant hand—still clutching that horrible shredding death scythe, he didn't dare get any closer. Slowly, Grell's eyes slid up to his own, acid green meeting bright spring green.

"Will… This… This is a picture of _me_…" The red reaper sat stunned, looking at the photo. It was just a simple photograph of Grell, daydreaming, staring out the window in his office, into the bright sunlight of midday. William had come in to get a photo for the new ID cards being issued but couldn't help but take one extra while Grell wasn't looking. He had just looked so peaceful, so much like the man he used to be. It had made William realized how much he missed that Grell. Carefully, William walked around the remnants of the desk, sitting on the floor and settling himself against a somewhat solid piece facing Grell.

"I took it when the day I came in about the ID card pictures." William said, adjusting his glasses. He didn't let his face show any of the inner turmoil, keeping it blank as well as he could. He hadn't forgotten the way Grell stood up to him earlier, pushing him around like they were just students again. He had never known that he had hurt Grell so bad. For all his flirting, William never thought he was anything special to Grell, just another good-looking guy to flirt with. Especially when he started in on that Sebastian creature… "I couldn't resist. It was the first time in three centuries that you looked like you."

Grell sat silently, looking at the photo longingly. Finally he lifted his eyes to William's, the heart-break written all through their depths. He looked on the verge of saying something, before he curled in on himself, dragging the heavy scythe with him, closer to his body. He wedged it in the corner between the wall and the floor, holding the motor end up in his right hand. William watched the motion carefully; it had made a successful barrier between Grell and the rest of the world. The redhead was literally protecting himself from anything. William felt a deep pang of guilt.

"…I miss seeing you be you, Grell." William choked the statement out, at war with himself and making it look like he was having a majour internal hemorrhage. Grell stared at him, startled. After a painfully silent minute William seemed to have discarded his cold demeanor, making him look like he was forcing out what he wanted to say against his own better judgement. "For centuries you've been playing the lady, Grell. But you're not a lady. You're a man. And I wish you'd stay as that—this—man. I saw it last night when I was cleaning you off and dressing your wounds and I saw it today when you stood up to me and put me into place, just like you did during the month we spent together for our final exam. That day, I saw the man Grell instead of the lady Grell too, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make it last forever, since I thought I would never see it again…" After he finished, William fell into silence, glaring intently at a bug on the wall like it had just personally flipped him off and told him to go fuck his mother. Grell sat in stunned silence before letting his chainsaw drop to the floor. For a moment it looked like Grell might fling himself at William and embrace him. Then his face hardened and he stood, looking down through his glasses at William.

"…Thank you. That's all I've ever wanted." Grell said, a close-lipped grin on his face. He held a hand out to William, hoisting the man to his feet. Looking the raven haired man in the eye, he gave him a genuine smile, brushing the saw dust off his clothes and shaking off his coat. "But that doesn't mean I've forgiven you. You have a long way to go, Will." His face grew dark and serious as he looked at his long time companion. "Right now, I'm going to let you accompany me to the Mortal Realm. We have some demons to hunt." The red reaper stalked forward, pace confident and chainsaw swinging from his hand. Grabbing his shears, William kept pace with him, walking out of the offices.

"Grell?" William asked, earning a surprised look from the redhead.

"Yeah Will?" He asked, stopping to look fully at the stoic man. William shifted slightly, adjusting his glasses with the tip of his shears.

"They hurt you in a truly unforgivable way, didn't they?" He asked, already anticipating the answer, but needing to be sure. Grell silently nibbled on his lip (_how the hell does he do that without breaking the skin and tearing his lip up?_ William wondered) and sighed, looking world weary and, for once, as old as his body seemed to be.

"Yes. They did. The Phantomhive brat commanded Sebastian to… Well, I think you already figured it out." Grell looked away, his face shadowed and eyes shining with shame. William's rage grew and this time he didn't bother to contain it.

"I'm going to kill those demons, Grell." He growled, looking away from Grell and seeming far away. Grell's gaze snapped back to William, softness to his expression. "I'm going to hurt them, destroy them, for what they did to you." He looked at Grell with a hard, intense look in his eye. Slowly, Grell returned it, a murderous grin on his face. He had only seen that rage in William one other time in his life, and it had been the only time William had ever bested him. Revving the chainsaw, he swung it dramatically, pointing in a vague direction out the door.

"Let's go get them William!" He exclaimed, going to take off at a run as he shut the saw off, just for the moment. He felt William grab his wrist and stop him in place.

"Wait a minute, Grell." Grell looked back at William, confused. William just pulled him back to where he was, before removing the redhead's glasses, letting them hang by the chain on Grell's chest. He pulled out a handkerchief, holding it in his left hand, while carefully, gently pulling the fake lashes off Grell's eyes, wiping most—but not all—of Grell's make-up off with the handkerchief. Leaving only the liner on, William replaced the kerchief in his pocket and carefully balanced Grell's glasses on his nose. Grell felt his face, giving William a stunned look. William adjusted his own glasses before gently resting his hand on Grell's cheek.

"Welcome back, Grell…" Will paused, giving Grell a small—but thoroughly genuine—smile, his eyes shining. "My dear friend." Grell returned his smile, before the two headed out the doors in unison.

Time to go massacre some demons.

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><p><strong>Well, there it is! Off they go. <strong>

**And to anyone who might complain about anyone being out of character, I'm just running with what I can find for certain situations, so I don't want to hear about it. Just saying. **

**Other than that, please review! I love hearing suggestions and getting feedback.**

**-Pk**


	3. Hunt

**Hey there, really quick. I just wanted to clarify one thing I said in my last little note: I'm NOT taking suggestions about the story. Only about how to better improve my writing. **

**Okay! Now I have a very special thanks to my reviewers Momo and Dezi: Thank you for the wonderful encouragement and kind words! I wish you had signed in to review so I could have told you personally. Love you too guys, and thanks for the support! **

**Now, on with the show.**

**Oh AND, this really lives up to it's M rating in this chapter, so uh. Yeah. **

**Please review!  
><strong>

**-Pk**

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><p>The two figures were a blur across the evening sky as they ran the rooftops. On the cobblestone streets below a young girl looked up to see them, just briefly, and exclaimed to her mother about the men in black suits, one with hair the colour of fire and the other, just behind him with hair the colour of night. The young girl would always remember them, the embodiments of the sunset itself and would grow to believe that they were the gods that chased the sun to bed, writing a very successful children's story about those men she saw on the rooftops that night, the "Gods that put the sun to bed, and made all the little children fall asleep." What she never told anyone is how the fiery man looked back at the night man and they both looked over at her, jumping and causing the sunset to catch her golden hair, and smiled. Though she never did see them again in life, she did see them often in dreams.<p>

"That little girl was watching us." Grell said casually as he leapt from one roof to the other. William followed his jump, and his line of sight. A little girl with gold hair and ice blue eyes was staring at them, those eyes wide. She was just a child; there was no fear of repercussions from a child. They were imaginative things and the adults would just dismiss what she had to say. Grell smiled at her and William even allowed himself a small quirk of a grin, causing the little girl to beam. And then they were gone, around the corner and across the city in the next heartbeat. They had been out all day following leads that Undertaker and Ronald had dug up and hadn't returned to the Shinigami Library in weeks. William had appointed people to cover his, Grell's and Ronald's work, officially signing the demon chase of as a high priority forced death due to the attack on Shinigami agents by other immortals. While William was filling out the paperwork, Grell had vanished, and even now he wasn't sure where the redhead had gone or why.

"She's fine. She's just a child." William dismissed it, coming to a halt and almost losing his footing as Grell stopped suddenly. The redhead was watching something go on below and William moved beside him, glancing over the high edge of the rooftop they landed on. Below them, just finishing up with a street vendor, was a mismatched gaggle of humans, the smallest male actually hauling up all the heaviest goods into a cart. Grell snarled next to him and he tried to focus harder, jogging his memory as to why they struck a chord in his mind. Finally, he heard one of their voices drift up and it clicked.

"Is that all we need Mey-Rin?" The silver-haired man with the odd skin asked. He knew that was Snake, a performer for the circus he was part of for a while. Silently, he was very glad that Grell had never seen his absurd costume. "Asks Emily." The man finished and William was confirmed. The small, buxom, auburn haired maid answered him with a soft yes and a nod. Grell made a soft "hmpf" from next to him and William knew that he was thinking the same thing. These, the silver haired man, the blonde American, the buxom maid, and the small superhuman were the servants of Phantomhive. If they were out shopping then that may have meant that the Earl Phantomhive was occupying his mansion again. That was all they needed to know. Taking off in the other direction, they headed for the Undertaker's shop, to see if he had dug anything up on the demons.

The Undertaker's morgue was dark when they got in, all the lights out and the sun long set. Eerily quiet, Grell and William were set on edge, their steps silent even on the creaky old wood. There was nothing out of place in the old shop and quietly they turned, back to back, each scanning the dark morgue. Suddenly they froze, one side of their necks each being pressed against by cold, sharp metal. Grell turned seeing a glowing peridot eye from the gloom before a flame in an oil lamp flared and they saw Ronald, his kelly green eyes and golden hair cutting through the gloom more. Slowly, they realized that they had a huge, ancient death scythe at their throats, ornate and shaped like a human skeleton on the handle. Undertaker removed his scythe quickly upon realizing his mistake and that's when the two newcomers noticed he was missing his favourite top hat.

"Mr. Spears, Grell. We have information for you." Ronald said, setting the oil lamp down as Undertaker went about making beakers of tea. William stared at him like he had just sprouted a second head, but Grell settled right down on top of one of the coffins quickly as Ronald started in with what they dug up. "We were at the cemetery, inspecting the grave of Madame Red, to see if we could find anything from when they attacked you. Well, I think they might have someone watching the grave, because we hadn't been there more than five minutes before they had shown up and started screaming at us, saying something about us 'bloody reapers never leaving well enough alone' and attacked us. Well, we ran. Undertaker threw his grave markers and impaled Sebastian a couple times and that slowed him down long enough to tear up the little one's leg with my mower. When he went down, the butler whipped one of the grave markers back at us and knocked off Undertaker's hat but didn't chase us down. He stopped to help the little one. From what we can tell, he's back to living in Phantomhive mansion." By the time Ronald had finished, the tea was ready and the Undertaker handed them each a beaker (making William make an absolutely baffled face) and settled on his desk with his own, Ronald perched on the coffin next to it and William moving to sit next to Grell, still staring at the beaker.

"I'm glad that neither of you are hurt." Grell said, taking a long draft of his tea, smacking his lips appreciatively. Undertaker made a sorrowful noise and shoved his bangs out of his face.

"Yes, I am glad we got out of that too. I just wish I had my hat back. It truly was one of a kind, but when they knocked it off my head, they took it with them." He scratched his head again, peridot eyes twinkling. Grell hummed as he drank, considering it for a moment. They had done the same thing with Madame Red's coat. He was just about to say something when William jerked next to him. Grell glanced over at him, only to see him draining the beaker empty, his wind tousled hair falling everywhere as he did.

"William?" Grell asked, concerned. William cast his eyes over and frowned at him like he did something wrong.

"It's good! Am I not allowed to appreciate a good cup, err… Beaker of tea now?" He snapped, running a hand over his hair to make it flatten somewhat. Grell looked at him like he was an idiot, causing William to glare back. Grell then, of course, returned the glare. There was a knock at the door and Ronald stood up, going over to answer it, passing the pair having their silent argument with an exasperated look.

"Can I help you?" He asked, making everyone look over. Standing there, with the carriage outside on the street waiting, was the silver-haired man named Snake and, of course, his snakes.

"I have a letter from the Earl Phantomhive for Mister William T. Spears and Mister Grell Sutcliff." Snake said, handing a sealed envelope to Ronald. "Says Webster. I was told they could be found here, says Goethe." Ronald stared at him for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll uh. I'll make sure they get it…" He said, looking oddly at Snake. The silver haired man bowed slightly before walking away and climbing on the supply carriage with the others and riding away, the horses' hooves clattering. Immediately Grell and William were up and they each had a side of the letter, looking at the wax seal on the back. Looking at Grell, William nodded, letting the redhead open it with a flick of his wrist. William pulled out the letter and, silently, they read it together.

_Misters William T. Spears and Grell Sutcliff,_

_I would like to inform you that I do, in fact, know that you have been searching for me, and why. Therefore, I invite you to, whenever you feel comfortable, come to my mansion and face me myself. If you do choose to come, I will not have any of my servants defend the mansion, for, I assure you, myself and Sebastian will do it ourselves. We only ask that they be left out of the conflict. You do not need to return this letter, just come. I know we will be seeing you soon. _

_Until then._

_Yours,_

_Earl Ciel Phantomhive_

They finished reading and immediately Grell crumpled the letter, disgusted. How low must they go before they were satisfied? Openly taunting them like that was surely a trap. Grell clicked his tongue and put his hands on his hips, addressing only William. It seemed he had forgotten the other two were even there. This didn't bother Undertaker or Ronald, however, as they both sat in their former positions, drinking their beakers of tea and munching on the Undertaker's favourite bone-shaped cookies.

"We can't go. It's obviously a trap." Grell said, causing William to nod as he adjusted his glasses.

"Of course it is. We both know what those psychos he employs can do." Pulling out a book, he flipped it open to his notes on the Phantomhive servants. "The cook, Bardroy, is ex-military and American, known to be good with firearms and other weaponry. Finnian is a genetic experiment as strong as any immortal. Mey-Rin is a former assassin, her long range sight like a hawk's. Snake is an appropriately named snake handler with exceptional agility and snakes set up to attack all through the grounds. And that's just the humans. He has that damn guard dog Pluto too, that massive beast of a hellhound. To even get near without an army would be a mistake, because I don't believe that they wouldn't order those people to attack us on sight." William snapped his book shut with a note of finality. Grell hummed his agreement, pacing as he thought it over.

"We have to get them to come to us. Into the city. Because even if we managed to not kill any of the humans, out there in the seclusion they could easily unleash their demon-selves. We have no idea if we could survive that." Grell said, his boot heels clicking on the wood. "What we need to do is taunt them, lure them out. Here, gimme a piece of paper and a pen, I know you have it." William handed Grell a notepad and a pen and watched as Grell bent over and wrote a short note back to the little Earl.

_Brat. _

_We're not falling for that. You take us as stupid? Probably, but you're wrong. _

_If you want us, come and claim us._

_We'll be waiting in London. _

_Grell & William_

Smirking, Grell handed it to William. It was the single most irritating, informal thing he'd ever read. "Perfect." He said, giving Grell a half-grin before walking over to Undertaker and Ronald. "Take this, seal it with a Shinigami seal and send it with a courier to the Phantomhive Mansion in the morning. Make sure you address it properly, and neatly, Mr. Knox, none of your usual scrawl." He instructed. Ronald took it and nodded.

"Will do, boss." He said, still munching on one of those absurd cookies. Grell nodded from behind William and turned to leave, William following suit. "Wait, where are you going?" Ronald asked, sliding off the coffin. Grell just smiled at him (thoroughly creeping him out with those teeth) and opened the door.

"They want us, Ronald. You and him," he pointed at the madman on the desk, "need to get that delivered and then go to the Shinigami Library. I don't want you getting attacked because they have a grudge against us, okay?" The red reaper smiled sympathetically. William straightened next to him, looking Ronald right in his kelly green eyes.

"That's an order Ronald. You are to go back to the Shinigami Headquarters and take that loon with you." On cue, the Undertaker cackled, the gesture looking even more insane with his face exposed, and fell backwards off the desk. Ronald looked mortified but just nodded.

"Yes sirs." He said, folding the letter and putting it in an inner pocket. Grell and William nodded, walking out into the dark streets and shutting the door behind themselves. In unison they leapt to the rooftops again, heading to a familiar place. Neither one of them had to say a thing; they both knew that they were headed to the abandoned house of Thomas Wallis, their first death. It was a familiar and cozy place to them, and, when they got in, they settled down in the comfortable old home once occupied by the blonde. While having stayed in the Undertaker's shop while there the past few weeks, each in turn had stayed there while on longer missions. It was a safe place to each of them, after all, so it was not surprising they ended up there. Grell looked around after shrugging off his coat and leaving it in a heap on the bed, annoying William, before looking at the desk.

"Hey…" He said, looking over the old and somewhat brittle paper. "You kept it." It was Wallis's novel, _The Tale of Will the Reaper_. Next to it was a stack of newer papers covered in William's handwriting. The front had a new title and it looked like the old novel was being used as a basic premise for something William was writing himself. Grell read the title silently, his heart warming. _Reapers: The tales of William and Grell._ William, realizing what Grell was looking at, rushed over and tossed Grell's own coat over it.

"Sutcliff! How many times have I told you not to go rooting through other peop—" William was cut off my Grell's fist smashing into the side of his face. Again. Standing there dazed it took him a moment to figure out why the redhead was mad at him. Grell was furious, standing with his feet braced and his shoulders hunched with fury. Those razor teeth were bared and a toxic glare was showing from around those blood red bangs. William backed off, trying to think of something to say, but after another sock to the jaw he lost it.

Furious, the raven haired man grabbed his death scythe and swung it, trying to knock Grell back. The agile redhead bounced backwards, landing on the windowsill and launching off it trying to knock William off balance. Will slammed back into the wall to avoid the launch, but his shears where caught and Grell tossed them with a clatter into the corner where his saw was. It offered the tiniest relief that the red reaper wasn't going for his scythe, but he was still pissed. Throwing back his fist, he swung at Grell, the redhead dodging quickly and easily, responding with two quick jabs in the side and danced away. William swung is leg backwards, causing the redhead to stumble, but not fall. Instead, he turned that stumble into a top-like spin, catching William in the stomach with his knee.

That's when it struck him—he was screwed. He picked a fight with Grell, who was stronger, faster and a better fighter than him, over something that he was actually wrong about. When they had started this demon hunt William had promised to treat Grell like an equal. So having called Grell by his surname, like he was just another subordinate, just tipped the man over the edge into fury. Now he was going to get his ass handed to him. He was, after all, an AAA student, while William was just a B.

Fuck.

There was no avoiding the next blow. Grell had launched himself again, from the crouch he had been in and across the room, springing into a handstand, catching William by the waist with his legs and whipping him across the room. William went flying, righting himself before skidding to a halt on his hands and knees. Grell was at the window again, this time holding the top sill while more or less standing on the frame, waiting for William's move. William dashed forward, keeping low to the ground, hoping to be able to dive right under Grell's next launch. Grell grinned, flashing those menacing teeth and diving straight for William, hitting him in the stomach, knocking him onto his back and landing on top of him. Grell leaned back, sitting up and went to smash his lesson right into William's face with a few good blows, that is, until he felt William squirm underneath him, and the whole dynamic in the room changed.

"What the hell…?" Grell stared down at the stoic man, whose flushed face had a totally new meaning in that second. William gripped Grell's thighs tightly, his face impassive but his body completely betraying him. Grell grinned again, a completely different one this time, his eyes half lidded and mischievous, and gave an experimental grind backwards into Will's lap. William's grip tightened, but otherwise he made no other indication of his failing self-control. Grell chuckled to himself, leaning down and giving the barest graze of his teeth on William's exposed neck. William felt his control crumble and reached up, twining his hands into Grell's hair and bringing their lips crashing together. Grell responded in kind, gripping the short black hair tightly, bringing them closer together. Too soon for Grell's liking, William pulled back, trying to regain his composure. The redhead was still very close and William pushed him back and off him enough to sit up.

"Grell, I—" he started, unsure how to continue. It wasn't like he didn't want this, but he really didn't know what Grell wanted from him. He didn't know what he meant to the red reaper. Grell's acid-tone eyes were shining and a playful smirk was dancing across his lips as he seated himself more firmly in William's lap. Will was having a hard time thinking right now, but he had to know. "Just what am I to you, Grell?" those acidic eyes widened and caught William's spring green ones, concern shining through the lust.

"William…" Grell wrapped arms around the man, tucking his head into the junction between William's neck and shoulder. "Will, I've told you a thousand times if I've said it once. You, Will Spears, are the only man I've ever loved. The only man I'll ever love." The redhead tightened his grip and William returned it with fervor. He was at a loss for words and instead kissed the top of Grell's head, hoping that he would understand. Eventually Grell backed away, catching William's eyes again. The lust was back with a vengeance and William allowed himself a grin. All the hesitation was gone as Grell brought their lips back together, his tongue flicking out and asking to be let in. William obliged, despite those fangs being so close. To his surprise Grell had a sweet, peppermint taste to him and when those shark-like teeth nibbled at his bottom lip, they were delicate and precise, not causing any pain, only the promise of it should Grell lose control. The thought—surprisingly—sent a shiver down William's spine, causing Grell to pull away and chuckle at him softly.

Carefully, the redhead stood, pulling William up with him, before taking his hand and leading him to the short distance to the bed, before shoving William down onto it and walking over to the desk where his coat laid abandoned. Fishing around in the inner pockets, he pulled out a small, unmarked bottle with a satisfied grin. William had a sneaking suspicion he knew what it was and quirked an eyebrow at Grell, making the red haired man chuckle lowly. "Wasn't it you that told me I should always come prepared, William, dear?" He asked, his voice dripping with the irony of the statement. William adjusted his glasses and peered lustily at the man as he considered what he had said.

"Yes, I do believe it was, I just never expected you to listen." William smirked, grabbing Grell by the ribbon and pulling him down as soon as he was near enough to. Grell captured William's lips again, quickly and easily untying and discarding it. His ribbon joined it on the floor as William started undoing the buttons on his vest. Grell moved down, nipping at William's neck and tearing his own black vest open. William stopped, reaching down and expecting it to be destroyed, causing Grell to laugh heartily at him. William was impressed. Not one button was damaged.

"What do you take me for, William?" Grell bit down on the black haired man's neck, causing him to shiver. "I do know what I'm doing." He kissed the irritated spot gently, soothing the skin. William popped the last few buttons of Grell's vest and shoved it off him hastily before flying through the ones on his dress shirt. The need to just to exposed Grell to him was overwhelming and he almost just tore the frustrating fabric off. Grell took Will's hands and set them on his thighs, reaching up and sliding the white shirt off, tossing it and his vest on the floor with William's tie and his own ribbon. William was stunned. Grell's alabaster skin was flawless and beautiful. William had expected Grell to have a small, delicate frame but he was completely wrong; underneath all the clothing Grell was leanly muscled and powerful. William's hands slid up Grell's body, feeling every muscle beneath the pale skin. Grell shuddered as William brushed over his sides, up his chest and finally onto his neck before tangling his hands back in the red locks. Grell sighed and leaned in, placing a gentle kiss on William's lips before resting his forehead against the other man's.

"Do you love me, Will?" He asked, the red hair draping around them like a curtain, cutting off the rest of the world. William released Grell's hair and cupped his face instead, placing feather-light pecks all over it before pulling Grell down and holding him close.

"Always, Grell. I've always loved you. I just never knew how to tell you." He answered honestly. William felt Grell relax, then a tongue run over his neck. He sat up long enough to properly shove his coat, vest, dress shirt and gloves off before taking Grell's lips with a renewed passion. Grell plucked William's glasses off his face, along with his own, and set them, tangled together on the nightstand, next to the unmarked bottle. Grell dragged his crimson nails down William's bare sides and to his belt, never breaking the kiss. In tow quick movements he had the thing undone and off of Will's waist, working on the zipper next. William was lost in the feeling, in the dominance that Grell was displaying, his hands finally leaving the blood red locks when Grell grabbed him through his pants and gripped the sheets tightly, his back arching. Grell stroked him through the fabric a few times making William throw his head back and finally let out a low, lusty moan. Grell grinned, leaning back and removing the remaining clothing William had on in one fluid motion. The raven haired man just gaped at him.

"How'd you…?" He started, deeming the question unimportant as another moan escaped him when Grell's ruby nail flicked over his weeping head. He couldn't do anything but stare as Grell kicked off his heels then undid and removed his belt slowly, adding it to the ever growing pile of clothing next to the bed. William swallowed back another moan as he watched Grell slide out of his own pants, revealing that he was wearing nothing beneath them. Grell was very nearly perfect, the only thing smearing his image being the still raw looking scar stretching from his left hip, down his ass and to his knee. William was left breathless and throbbing at he watched Grell take himself in his own hands, stroking himself while still perched on William's lap. William bucked up, desperate for contact, and ground himself into Grell, eliciting a moan from both of them. Grell gave him a heated gaze and snatched the unmarked bottle from the nightstand.

Uncorking the bottle, Grell poured a liberal amount of the clear, slick liquid onto his fingers, stroking himself a few times before removing himself from William's lap and settling between his legs. The redhead bent over and kissed him as he slowly, gently inserted one finger inside him. William sighed and gripped the sheets more tightly as Grell moved the digit within him. Slowly, Grell added a second and third, causing William to hiss as it burned. Grell planted feather-light kisses on William's face and neck shifting his fingers to a different angle, stroking the inside carefully, searching. William cried out, pleasure blinding him as he threw his head back and his eyes slid shut. Grell grinned, knowing that from then out it would be nothing but pleasure for the raven haired man. Grell removed his fingers, earning a whimper from William, until it was replaced with something much, much bigger.

"Fuck!" William cried out and the sudden, swift sensation of being filled. Grell snickered like a madman as he pulled out again, before slamming back in at a different angle, wrapping William's legs around his waist. William cried out as his sweet spot was hit again and again, hands leaving the sheets to grip Grell's shoulders, leaving deep red scratches all down his back. "Oh fuck, Grell!" he cried when Grell wrapped one hand around William's hard length with the other still on his hip, nails digging in and bracing the writhing man. The redhead snickered again, his voice husky and breathless.

"That is the... the general idea William." He snickered, thrusting harder and making William almost scream in pleasure and dig his nails deeper into the small off Grell's back and begging him to go harder and faster. Grell happily obliged, picking up the pace of both body and hand. It wasn't long before the normally stoic man was calling Grell's name, hands gripping the headboard behind him as he was pleasured beyond his belief. It wasn't long at that pace before William was crying out again, Grell's name falling repeatedly from his lips, his seed spilling over Grell's hands and both their stomachs. Grell followed soon after, releasing deep within the raven haired man with a throaty cry before collapsing on top of William, panting. Shakily, William wrapped one arm around Grell's waist and ran the other hand through the sticky, tangled red locks. Grell took a few more gasping pants before removing himself from William and laying down, pulling Will over and holding him close.

"Grell?" William asked, drowsy, as Grell brought the blankets around them.

"Yeah William?" Grell responded, snuggling down closer to his boss-turned-lover as the sun broke the horizon. William shifted closer, sighing with content.

"I love you, Grell Sutcliff." He muttered, mostly asleep. Grell didn't mind and he kissed William's head as they drifted off together. A small smile graced Grell's lips. "I love you too, Will Spears." Grell answered, falling out soon after William's light snores filled the room. Dawn broke, casting a pale blue light on the sleeping lovers, making a scene of utmost peace.

_London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London bridge is falling down, my fair lady. _

_London bridge is falling down… falling down… falling down… London Bridge is falling down… my… fair… lady… _

It was early evening by the time the sleeping lovers finally awoke to the sound of the child's nursery rhyme. Stirring irritably, William sat up, nudging Grell and trying to get the redhead to move. Reluctantly, Grell got up, yawning widely and reaching for his glasses, handing William his while he was at it. After a moment, Grell sat and listened to the tune outside. It was obvious that it was the old children's rhyme, but it was being played on a wordless music box that sounded quite familiar. He frowned as it nagged at the back of his mind. For some reason it made him think of dolls… finally it struck him and he was up and out of bed, an annoyed, still sleepy William glaring at him. Grell started throwing on his clothes quickly.

"What's your problem Grell? It normally takes you forever to get ready in the morning." He asked, fishing around in the clothes pile for his pants. After Grell made a displeased noise he looked up, to see Grell in the very pants William was looking for. They were too loose on him and looked comically like clown pants, causing William to snicker. Irked, Grell took them off and tossed them at William, grabbing his from the pile and pulling those on instead.

"I know where the music is coming from." Grell said, throwing on and buttoning first his shirt, then vest, then putting on his boots and gloves. He had all that done before William had finished buttoning his shirt. Frustrated, Grell grabbed Will's vest, having it on him and buttoned faster than William could believe. Grell tossed him his suit jacket and kicked over his shoes while tying his ribbon and then William's tie. William gaped. He didn't even know Grell knew how to tie a tie. He finished dressing and followed Grell's lead as the redhead threw on his coat and grabbed his death scythe, leaving the sanctuary of the small flat.

"Grell, what's going on?" William asked as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading towards the source of the music. Grell looked back at him, those acid-tone eyes flashing dangerously. William braced himself for the worst.

"That music box, I've heard it before. It was played by a puppet that called itself Drocell." Grell explained. "It was years ago, but it had to do with the Phantomhive brat. Drocell was destroyed but the only ones that would have known where the music box was are myself, the brat and the demon." Grell stopped, looking over the edge of a particularly tall building. Standing alone in the middle of the street below was Ciel Phantomhive, a music box around his neck as he turned the crank, making that obnoxious song play. William hopped down to a lower building to try to get a better look.

Suddenly, Ciel stopped playing and turned around, his crimson eye shining alongside the violently purple contract. But it wasn't William that Ciel was looking at. It was Grell.

"Sebastian. Time to end this." The order was clear. A loud roar sounded through the night and William whipped around, watching a swing of red and silver. Sebastian had waited until William had left Grell's side and attacked him, taking his chainsaw. William moved to help him, only to have to jump back as the music box went sailing past him. Ciel was only feet from him when William realized that the whole thing has been a trap. Quickly, he leapt in the air, swinging his shears and catching the young demon in the side and sending him flying sideways. Chancing a glance at Grell, he saw the demon trying but failing to hack at him with his own saw. Grell looked pissed but unharmed. Satisfied, William ducked and rolled as Ciel's claws went flying at his head.

William thrust his shears up, slicing the young demon in the leg and making him howl in pain. William saw a fresh wound through the torn cloth and knew it was from Ronald's scythe and below that, faint but recognizable, were tear marks from the razor fangs of Grell Sutcliff. This made William's blood boil as he recalled the broken expression on Grell's blood-soaked face that fateful evening in the Library. Letting his rage consume him, he extended the shears so they impaled in the ground next to the little demon, using it as a pole vault and landing on top of Ciel, one heel grinding into the little demon's stomach and the other into his throat. Bringing his death scythe around, he leveled it to take off Ciel's head.

"Sebastian!" Ciel called out, his voice weak. "Do it now!" William whipped around when a pained cry sounded through the night. Sebastian had thrown up the chainsaw, distracting the redhead and kicked him so he went flying into the air. Grell twisted, going to make it a counter-attack but Sebastian was back, grabbing the falling chainsaw and slashing it at Grell. The red reaper's reflection shone in it briefly as it swung in its arc. William's pained cry tore through the night as a heap of blood red and black hit the ground with a bloody splatter.

"GRELL!"

William felt himself break. This could not be happening.

Grell lay there motionless.

The red reaper was dead.


	4. War

**I know you've been waiting, so here's the next chapter. **

**And I wanna give a big thanks to CarnivalFreak for being with me and taking time reviewing every chapter. **

**That's enough of that. Let's get on with it. **

**-Pk**

* * *

><p>"Grell!" William tried to run over to the motionless reaper, only to be caught by Ciel Phantomhive grabbing his arms. With a mighty howl William wrenched himself free, taking his shears and impaling Ciel in the stomach, flinging him, sending him sliding towards the edge of the rooftop. William leapt over the rooftops, determined to get to Grell, but was intercepted by a very irate older demon. With a chainsaw. Sebastian, having seen the attack on his young master, slashed at William with Grell's scythe violently, barely missing the black reaper's head. Ducking around him, William jumped, using Sebastian's head as a spring board as the demon swung again, nearly taking off one of William's legs in the process, and reached out, catching the ledge of the building Grell was laying on. He heaved himself up, taking one step towards the fallen reaper before something large and metal caught his side, winding him and sending him smashing down to the street below, skidding to a very painful stop as his head cracked on the cobblestones, bleeding profusely. The young demon, his stomach oozing, had taken a nearby streetlamp and swung it at William, knocking him back. William swung his shears, making the little demon raise his lamp in defense. Metal clashed against metal but William had the advantage of strength here and sent the lamppost flying, clattering onto a distant rooftop. The black reaper, bloodlust in his eyes, again tried to impale the little demon, only to have the former Earl duck and roll, springing up behind him and snagging William's scythe, dazing him with a hard swing to the head and barring him in between his arms and the scythe. William struggled to get free until he heard a dull thump and looked up.<p>

Sebastian was on the roof, inspecting the dead man lying there. The thump he heard was the older demon kicking the red reaper in the stomach over and over again, making sure he didn't move. There wasn't even a stir from the prone figure of Grell. William couldn't believe it. If Grell was really dead, why had the world not ended? Why had time not stopped? He sagged in Ciel's grip. Just a few hours ago it looked like everything was going to be better from now on. He had honestly hoped, honestly believed that he and Grell might even have a life together now. To think that those shining, acid-tone eyes would never again gaze on him as he fell asleep, and that warmth would never be there for him again to hold. To think that Grell would never stand up to him, would never laugh with him, would never tease him and argue with him and tell William he was loved… it was too much for William to bear. For the first time in his life, William felt tears slip down his face. Grell had been the only thing in his life to make it bearable. Without him, there was nothing. They had always been together, since the days of the academy. William's mind and body went numb. There was no need to feel now.

"Sebastian." Ciel was talking close by but William couldn't care less. He kept thinking about all the things that would never again happen. No Grell bursting into his office, disrupting his work. No Grell to help Ronald out of a jam when a girl he just broke up with was causing a ruckus in the office. No Grell to come drape himself across William's desk when Will had shot down one of his ludicrous ideas. No Grell… "Quit playing with the corpse and deal with this one. Show these damn reapers that they aren't to mess with us demons anymore." William felt Sebastian land in front of him, and heard Grell's chainsaw rev to life. He felt Ciel laugh against him and saw his reflection against the raised saw. To his surprise, he wasn't scared. He was actually looking forward to it. Life without Grell wasn't life. At least they'd be together now, and he knew Grell wouldn't want William to die like a pansy-ass with his tail between his legs. Together in life, together in death. He knew Grell would do the same for him. He knew Grell was waiting for him. So William stood proud, looking the demon in the eye, his face only showing his normal, mild hint of annoyance. He knew that this would not go unnoticed. If they turned up dead, he knew that a manhunt like there never was before would happen and these demons would meet their end. They would get what was coming to them. His lips quirked into a grin and he did the thing he thought would piss the demon off the most.

He spat in Sebastian's face, watching it splatter between the stunned demons eyes as he turned red with fury. Then grinned, closing his eyes. "Fuck you, demons."

The roar of the chainsaw was deafening as the enraged demon swung it, determined to take off William's head. There was a terrible tearing noise and a clang of metal against metal and the chainsaw stopped, something clogging it up. William opened his eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sebastian was standing there with the chainsaw, its blade clogged with black material and being held back by a second, unattached chain, being braced only inches from William, by Grell himself. The red reaper had a nasty, arcing gash up one side and across his shoulder blades, a split in his head that was still bleeding and his long, red locks were missing, obviously having been caught by the saw as it arced along his back, but seemed otherwise unharmed. Sebastian was trying to shove the blade down, into the irate redhead and the man he was protecting, but to no avail. The spare chain was wrapped around the blade and Grell had one end in each hand, wrapped around them for an extra-firm grip, and, with a mighty yank, he sent the saw flying, impaling into a building far away from any of them. William, his spirit soaring because of Grell's miraculous survival, slammed his head back into Ciel's face and reclaimed his death scythe, swinging it and causing the little demon to jump back. He felt Grell's weight against his back and smiled as they stood, back to back, bracing themselves for the next attack by the demons.

"Were you really just going to stand there and let yourself be killed, you idiot?" Grell quipped, a scolding tone to his voice. William huffed, watching Ciel try to find an opening.

"You were the one that let me think you were dead." William answered, wiping his face off and sending the extendable end of the shears at the little demon, making him dive to the side. It was Grell's turn to huff.

"I couldn't move until my muscles stitched back together." He said, swinging the chain like a whip and almost taking off Sebastian's head as he tried to get to his young master. William considered it and nodded.

"That is true. I guess I can wait until later to be mad at you then." William dashed away from Grell, slicing through the air at Ciel's head, catching the small demon's shirt instead and ripping it open as he dodged. He heard a strangled cry from behind him and slammed his shears into the ground, using them as a pole and to swing around, catching the small demon in the stomach with both heels and sending him flying. He collided with Sebastian as the older demon went flying from the other way, both of them slamming into the street before skidding to a halt in a pile of tangled limbs. Ciel propped himself up as best he could—Sebastian still trying to untangle himself from the young demon—and pulled out a small whistle from his jacket. He blew into it and the two reapers clapped their hands over their ears, the high-pitched note threatening to split their skulls. Finally it stopped and they released their heads, wondering what the little Phantomhive demon had just called. A large crunch came from above them, and they looked up.

A huge silver hound was standing above them, and, with a howl, it jumped down onto the street below. William grabbed Grell's arm and hauled him out of the way, the impact sending them both to the ground briefly. Up and ready to attack in a heartbeat, the reapers saw the demons climb aboard the hound, and take off at an amazing rate down the side street and into the main road. Swearing, Grell ran after them, grabbing his chainsaw as he passed it, William tight on his heels. But the reapers were built for agility and acrobatics, not for flat out sprints and soon the hellhound was out running them. Veering off into the main street, they startled a young noble on a horse, causing it to rear and whinny angrily. Grell dashed right past the man and horse, trying to catch up to the demons, but William stopped. Apologizing to the young noble, he dragged him from his horse, taking the reins and swinging himself on. The horse whinnied again and dashed forward, catching up with Grell quickly. Grell had gotten his chainsaw unjammed (William noticed then that he had used his own coat to jam it) and looked up at William as he slowed for a moment. Getting the picture, he reached up and took William's hand, swinging on behind the black reaper.

William knew where this was heading. Soon he had caught up with the hellhound and the demons riding it, heading out of London. He knew they were falling back to the manor, but he also knew that they were running because they were scared. He saw Sebastian turn in front of him and send his signature silverware back at them, aiming to impale and dismount them. William ducked and he heard the clang of metal on metal as Grell knocked it out of the air. The next batch was whipped back and William swung his shears, sending them scattering. Humans were leaning out the window at this point, watching the strange sight as the horse closed in on the hellhound. Ciel was steering the beast, leaving Sebastian to keep launching the silverware at them. William edged the horse on harder, swearing to it that he would take good care of it when this was all over and felt Grell crouch behind him, his right hand clasping his shoulder as he dropped the chainsaw in his lap.

"Gimme your shears, Will!" He said, holding his hand out. William handed them over, knowing Grell knew what he was doing. He heard the trigger go off and the shears went speeding forward, clipping and snapping at the hound's hind legs. He was trying to cripple the beast before they got back to the manor. It took a sharp turn into the woods at the edge of the city and Grell swore. The trees would make it harder to hit the beast. William maneuvered the horse through the trees so it was directly behind the hound and Grell unleashed William's shears again, catching the beast in its tail and making it yelp. Stumbling, the silver hound ran into a tree, and out of the forest, instead following the pathway that lead to the Phantomhive manor. William urged the horse faster, hot on the hound's heels. Sebastian sent another batch of silverware flying, intent on hitting them. Grell was having none of it as he sent the shears swinging, knocking them back and scattering them to thump into the trees on either side of them. They were getting close the Phantomhive mansion now; William could see the lights in the distance. The hound turned along a curve in the path, just inside of the mansion's grounds now, and Grell grinned, baring those razor-teeth in triumph and sent the shears out again.

Ciel screamed as the shears impaled his right thigh, causing him to jerk on the hound's fur, and the hound twisted, tripping and sending the demons flying, both landing sprawling on the ground, before colliding with a tree and falling, out cold. Grell leapt from the back of the horse as William slowed it to a stop, throwing the reigns over a near-by tree limb. The horse cantered for a second before wandering to the other side of the tree to graze. The ground caved under the red reaper, startling William, as he aimed to crush Sebastian with his heel and the demon vaulted backwards to avoid him. Whipping William's shears around, Grell slashed up, catching the demon in the throat and sending him skidding across the ground, holding the bleeding wound. Sebastian's cinematic record came pouring out and William gaped. While Grell was still too busy attacking the weakened demon, he didn't seem to notice. But William did. _Sebastian had two cinematic records._ A normal one, and a red-tinged shadow one. As he watched, they merged into one after about 100 years of data and William understood. Demons were once human after all, that were changed into demons either by other demons or on their deathbeds by the hate in their hearts. Where the two records met, that was where Sebastian had been changed. So he was recording his life _both as a human _and_ an immortal._ He knew what to do.

"Grell!" He called, dashing forward, only to have the wind knocked out of him as something solid hit him. Ciel Phantomhive had tackled William to the ground and was trying to wrench Grell's chainsaw from him. Taking a lesson from Grell himself, William used the heavy butt off the saw and smashed Ciel in the head, dazing him. The stunned demon released him enough for William to shove him off, but it was enough that Sebastian had time to recover so his record was contained once again. Cursing, he kicked Ciel in the puncture wound in his stomach and ran over towards Grell, who was still swinging Will's shears like he would his own saw. "Grell!" He called again. The red reaper shoved the shears into the ground, like William had earlier, and swung himself, kicking hard and catching Sebastian in the chin with one of his heels, sending the demon back and away as William approached. William came to a halt and turned, his back thumping into Grell's as they exchanged scythes.

"What is it William? You figure out how to kill these motherfuckers?" Grell asked, a snarl in his voice. William shook his head, grinning.

"Better. You notice how they have two versions of their records?" He asked, watching as the small demon got up and started circling.

"Yeah I saw. One is tinted red." Grell answered. William rolled his eyes. Of course, Grell noticed anything that was red.

"Sever the red record where it meets the normal one." William said, bracing himself as the younger demon started to come closer. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sebastian doing the same.

"Sever… But severing the record from a healthy, living body will…!"

"Grell, just trust me!" William lunged away as Ciel came after him again. Swiftly, he shoved his shears towards the little demon, catching him in the arm this time. Ciel howled and slashed through the air with his claws, catching William in the face and making it pour blood. Furious, William sent a kick Ciel's way and knocked him back. William followed with two quick jabs in the side and another gash, this time in the other arm, causing the little demon to spring backwards. William dashed after him. He knew it was going to be difficult, but he had to wound him just enough to get the cinematic record to show itself, but not actually kill him. William heard Grell's saw roar to life and grinned; he knew that Grell would be fine, even if he lost the saw somehow again. He did have the spare chain with him still, after all, and he was damn near as deadly with that as he was with the scythe itself.

Grell was having the time of his life; slashing through the air, he caught Sebastian in the hand and caused the demon to drop the silver knives he had pulled out, making the demon retreat a few feet as he tried to get the slashed hand to work right still. Grell had actually almost missed. He had been trying to take the hand off, after all. Grell arched the chainsaw through the air again, this time bringing it down so it caught Sebastian in the chest. Sebastian reeled, blood pouring from his chest. The red reaper brought down the scythe once again and Sebastian caught it, trying to keep the thing from slicing open his face. This all seemed eerily familiar to the demon, only this time he was losing. Grell shoved harder against the scythe, but Sebastian twisted, away from the blade, sending it away from him, and caught Grell in the stomach with a violent kick, sending him flying backwards. Ten yards behind him, the same thing happened to William, and, in unison, the demons dashed forwards after their prey. William and Grell looked over their shoulders, catching each other's eyes, and twisted, midair, so that their arms locked, one facing one way and one facing the other, using their momentum to spin, William catching Sebastian in the stomach with his shears and Grell catching Ciel in the head with the butt of the chainsaw. The reapers red and black landed, their arms still locked and gazed at the demons.

Suddenly a shot rang out through the night, pinging off Grell's chainsaw. 100 yards from them were the servants, the woman Mey-Rin taking aim again as she went to shoot. The reapers dashed apart just as shots from both Mey-Rin and Bardroy rang out into the night. The small one, Finnian, heaved a decent sized tree at William and he threw himself to the side to avoid the giant foliage. Grell was dodging bullets to his right as another tree came at him and he tried to get out of its way, only to have a shot pierce his leg and immobilize him until he could get the bullet out. It was too late by the time he did and he could see no way to get out of the tree's path.

"William!" Grell cried out as he saw the tree heading right for the black reaper. He tried to get to the man, only to have his path blocked as Sebastian jumped back into the brawl. Knocking the demon back by slamming the flat of the saw blade into his side and breaking several ribs, he watched in horror as the tree came down.

There was a flash of silver and the tree was sliced into bits and sent flying, the Undertaker in mid-air with his ancient scythe out. William gaped up at him as he ran towards Finny, taking out another thrown tree in the process. The silver reaper had willingly joined the fight and in the next moment so did a streak of gold and black as Ronald came from the other way, right towards the two sharp-shooters. William scrambled to his feet, calling out to the others.

"No matter what you are not allowed to kill the servants of Phantomhive!" The silver and gold reapers each called back an affirmative each and went about distracting the servants instead. To William's relief , Undertaker had changed his scythe back into its grave marker disguise and was using that to keep the super human Finny and agile Snake busy while Ronald was bounding between Bard and Mey-Rin. Grell ran over to him and, after a quick once over to make sure he was okay, was back to back with the black reaper again as the demons charged them once more.

Sebastian whipped out with his undamaged hand, trying to claw at Grell as Ciel took to the air, trying to catch William in the face with his heel. The reapers ducked, each dashing away and making the demons collide unceremoniously with each other. Grell revved his chainsaw back up and made a wide arc at waist level, making them both spring away as William swung his shears, catching the pair in the sides with the length of the pole and winding them. Sebastian caught his young master and helped him up. Ciel was near his limit, judging by the blood soaking his clothes and William knew it was now or never for the younger demon. Signaling Grell, he sent his shears towards Sebastian, catching him in the shoulder and pinning him to the ground. Pole-vaulting with the shears so that they were straight up and down, William sealed the older demon to the ground, landing on top of him and keeping him pinned. Grell, in the mean time, dashed up at Ciel, and, chainsaw whirring, caught the young demon in the stomach. It was a shallow gash, but with as many wounds as he already had it was enough to send out his cinematic record.

Ciel fell to the ground as his record poured out of him. Grell watched the red tinted shadow record carefully. Then he saw it, where the two records converged, and where Ciel Phantomhive ceased being a demon and was still human. Trusting William to know what he was talking about, Grell severed the shadow record from the normal one with a swing of his saw.

There was a horrible wail from Ciel as his record was cut and the shadow record formed a translucent shape in the air, the shape of a Ciel look-alike. The demonic Ciel Phantomhive. Grell slashed again, slicing the shadow creature to bits. There was another horrible wail as the thing vanished and Ciel lay there, motionless and pale. For one moment Grell thought he was dead and then he took a great rattling breath and coughed, opening his eyes for just a moment. They were both clear, cerulean blue. Even the demon contract was gone. Grell had completely severed Ciel's connection to demons. Ciel looked up at him once before his eyes slid shut and he blacked out, bloody but now unharmed.

"Young master!" The universal cry of outrage came from the group and a low growl was starting in Sebastian's throat. Thinking Quickly, Grell ran his hands through his hair, slicking it back and turning it temporarily chocolate brown. Heaving the young man up in his arms, Grell turned. There was a collective gasp from Bardroy, Mey-Rin and Finnian as he walked over to them, avoiding the thrashing Sebastian as he tried to claw at his legs while passing. Commanding the silver and gold reapers to back down for a moment, he walked over to Bard.

"Mister Grell?" Bard asked, his blue eyes wide. Grell nodded, feeling his now short hair brushing against his chin and frowning in annoyance. He lifted Ciel carefully, depositing the young man in Bard's arms.

"Yes. It's me." He said, addressing the servants with whom he worked briefly to take suspicion off himself and Madame Red for being Jack the Ripper, pretending to be the world's worst butler. "I'm a Shinigami, a Grim Reaper. I was working undercover when you knew me. Hunting demons. That's why I'm here. Your young master and his butler, Sebastian proved to be possessed by a demon. The same demon. Ciel had the demon's mark on his eye. Sebastian has it on his hand, see?" He pointed to the thrashing Sebastian, who was trying unsuccessfully to slash at William. The black reaper was perched on the top of his shears, digging them into Sebastian more and glaring down at the demon. There was a collective gasp as the gullible servants saw Sebastian's demon mark. Grell continued. "I've vanquished the demon from inside Ciel Phantomhive's body. He is himself once more. Even the demon mark is gone. The contract the demon had sealed Ciel with is no more." Grell turned, grinning at Sebastian. The demon stopped thrashing just for an instant. Grell knew that look. He was trying to look through the young man's eyes, like he used to be able to. Realization dawned on him and his eyes glowed the colour of fire, baring his fangs and startling the servants. "Sebastian is still possessed!" Grell exclaimed, shaking the brown from his hair, making the humans stare dumbfounded at him. "We must contain him so we can free him! You must protect your young master!"

Sebastian let out a deafening roar as he wrenched the shears from his body, sending them and William flying. William landed next to Grell, catching his shears and staring in terror as Sebastian stood, his skin beginning to be covered in a black cover, his fingers becoming claws as they were covered. His clothes were smouldering and falling away. He was revealing his demon form. Smoke gathered around him as the clothing burned away completely, his whole body covered in what looked like hard black leather, from stiletto boots to full length, almost metallic looking gloves and a full body suit that went up his neck. Long, nasty fangs issued from his mouth and deep, midnight black wings sprouted from his shoulders, tattered looking and leathery. Monstrous was the only way to describe him. His ears had become elongated and pointed and horns grew from the top of his head and curved back, coming to a menacing point just beside those pointed ears. Hair slicked back and eyes burning pure red, he was a sight to behold. Grell made a disapproving noise from next to William.

"So that's what you look like, eh, demon?" He said. The demon growled, and Grell grinned, dashing forward, revving his chainsaw and cackling like a madman as the demon met him, those long, fearsome claws raised. Grell dodged around him, slicing the demon in the stomach, only to get a swift kick from the demon in the side, the stiletto heel slicing into him. Grell's blood spurted out and splashed over the ground, making William see red. The black reaper ran and joined the fight, ordering Undertaker and Ronald to protect the humans with their lives. He lifted the shears high, his movements mimicking Grell's. In that moment they were thinking the same thing: Survive. Each dodged past the demon's attacks, slicing simultaneously through one wing, severing them from the body, earning a pained howl from the demon. He tried to attack again but they jumped away. William heard a crackling from the left and turned, seeing the hellhound Pluto there, mouth full of fire. Apparently he didn't like one of his fellows being attacked. William jumped back, dragging Grell with him as the fire erupted where they used to be. The demon stood through it, unaffected.

"We can't hurt the dog." Grell said, eyes going from the demon to the hound. William looked over at him, baffled. Grell pointed to the dog's collar. "See how it's glowing? It's synched with Sebastian's demon form. It's not his fault. The demon is commanding him to protect it. Lowly creature." Grell growled, pointing the chainsaw at the demon. "I didn't know you were a tranny, _Bassy_! And you called _me_ disgusting!" The demon let out a furious howl, immediately coming after Grell and getting caught by Grell's next swing. Blood erupted from the demon's chest and he recoiled, eyes glowing brighter. William noticed the hound's collar do the same and the beast's mouth glowed with fire. William sprang forward, avoiding the fiery blast and leapt onto the dog. He thrashed, trying to throw William off. Will saw Grell laughing at the demon, taunting him to keep him attacking recklessly. Each time the demon caught Grell's chainsaw, Grell gave him another hard blow to his body. William heard the demon's ribs crack with the last blow. The demon's eyes glowed brighter again and the dog's collar did too, the fire building in his muzzle again. William stood on the beast's shoulders and plunged his shears down.

The collar sliced cleanly and fell off the hellhound. Immediately the beast stopped, gaining a dazed look and shaking. He was transforming, back into his human form and William jumped away as a white haired man stood there, looking dumbfounded, instead. The demon howled at losing its fire-breathing beast and slashed at Grell, catching him in the arm. Grell cried out in pain as his left arm was rendered useless before ducking and dodging the next swing of those deadly claws. The other hand came down, trying to take out Grell's eyes. Grell sunk his razor teeth into the demon's hand. The demon yanked his hand back, causing it to tear sickeningly as Grell's teeth ripped through it, and Grell slashed upwards, his movements sloppy as he tried to control his heavy chainsaw with one hand. The demon howled again, blood spurting from his chest. The black covering was starting to break. He was losing control of the demon form. William dashed forwards, impaling the demon in the shoulder and whipping him away from Grell. He twisted mid-air and landed on his feet, clutching the wound in his chest as it healed slowly. They were going to only have one shot at it.

"Are you alright?" William asked, hauling Grell to his feet, careful of the still going saw. Grell nodded, flexing his left arm as the bleeding slowed and his muscles stitched back together.

"Yeah I'll be fine. You seeing what I'm seeing?" The redhead asked, standing straight and bracing himself. William nodded, holding his shears up and tossing the raven locks out of his face. Mimicking Grell's pose, they dashed forward, together, red and black meeting the demon. William sprang up as Grell ducked down, slashing the still raw wound in the demon's chest. The demon wailed in pain and stumbled backwards, his cinematic record erupting from the wound. Decades flew past William in an instant and he watched the shadow record follow. Finally, he saw the connecting point, the place where the demon had been born and he plunged his scythe through it. Just like Ciel's had done, the shadow record tried to manifest into a physical form. Together, Grell and William slashed it, slicing it to bits, making it vanish in a horrible shriek. Collapsing in front of them was Sebastian, as he had always been seen as a human, naked and bloody, his wounds closed just like Ciel's had been, only sporting two very raw looking scars on his shoulder blades where they had sliced his wings off. The man shook, looking up at them as the humans and other two reapers came dashing forwards.

"What did… You do to me?" He exclaimed, his chocolate brown eyes trying to focus on them. Grell smiled at him, crouching down next to him as Bardroy, having handed a confused Ronald Ciel's limp, sleeping form, tossed his jacket over Sebastian's shoulders. The red reaper chuckled, leaning close enough for only Sebastian and the other reapers to hear.

"Welcome to humanity, _Bassy_. Now you get to have a nice, mortal life." Grell grinned, showing off his razor-teeth and Sebastian passed out, human again for the first time in over one hundred years. Standing, the red reaper brushed off his pants. "Let's get them inside and to bed." He said to the group. "Don't want them getting sick. They are only human, after all." There was a murmur of agreement and Undertaker heaved Sebastian up, mindful of the man's state and the young woman present, and headed towards the manor with Ronald, who was still carrying Ciel. William was talking to Finnian and sent the young man to take care of the stolen horse, while Mey-Rin, Snake and Bardroy accompanied the reapers across the grounds. Only the elderly Tanaka, who had joined them sometime during Grell and William's fight with the demon, stayed behind.

"What you men did was a wonderful thing." The old man said with a small bow. William nodded, shoving is flyaway hair back out of his face.

"It's our job to protect human souls." William said, reaching into his tattered and grimy jacket to an inner pocket and pulling out a small business card. Pulling out a pen,too, he scrawled something on the front before handing it to Tanaka. The old man took it and read it. "Anytime you need us, just take that card to the Undertaker's shop."

"Well Mr. Spears, Mr. Sutcliff. You are always welcome in the Phantomhive household." Tanaka bowed and William did too, respectfully. Grell, deciding to just go with it, made a small bow himself. The reapers went to leave, but Tanaka cleared his throat, gaining the reapers' attention again and holding out a red bundle to Grell. He took it and beamed, shaking the coat out and slinging it on, letting it rest about his elbows.

"Thank you, Mr. Tanaka. You will return Undertaker's favourite top hat to him too?" Grell asked as he wrapped an arm around William's waist. The once again stoic-faced man pinked, but did the same. Tanaka gave them a small smile and nodded.

"Of course. And Grell, Lady Elizabeth left something in your coat pocket for you." The old man turned, walking back to the mansion silently as the sun rose on the horizon again. The reapers red and black stood there for a second, watching it rise, before walking away slowly.

"Grell?" William asked, tightening his grip. Grell made a small hum, yawning widely. This whole ordeal had fucked up his sleep and he felt worn out.

"Yeah Will?" He answered, sliding his hand up under William's jacket, making the stoic man give him a look. Grell chuckled and captured his lips, making William sigh into the kiss and relax.

"Let's go home." The reapers vanished from the planes of the mortal world, heading back home for the first time in a month.

Their job was done. The demons were dead and they had even done something no other reaper had; released souls that had been converted into demons. They were welcomed back into the Shinigami Library as heroes for the discovery. Together, as partners, they were made head of the entire Dispatch Division, and were to instruct the training of the new recruits, including the newly discovered release of demonic souls. They were both taken care of in the infirmary and spent the entire day shaking hands and recounting the tale. By the time the day was done they had met every person—including those in the academy—that were in the Shinigami Library. Eventually, they finally managed to escape, stumbling into Grell's room, since it was closer, and collapsing on his bed. William snuggled up to Grell, exhausted, and fell into a deep sleep before he even removed his glasses. Grell chuckled lightly, running his hand through his short, blood red hair and pulling his chain free from his neck before taking his—and William's—glasses and putting them on the nightstand. He drifted out quickly, his arms wrapped tightly around the sleeping man. Three and a half centuries later, Grell had finally won the man he loved.

Their life together could finally start now. Grell smiled.

Better late than never.

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><p><strong>And there you have it. The last official chapter of Unhinged, though there will be an epilogue. And even though it's short, I hope you all enjoyed it. <strong>

**And if any of you are interested, I'm considering doing a comic version of the story, so if you would like to see it, pm me and I'll give you the link whenever I get around to posting it up on my dA account.**

**Again, please review! **

**Much Love, **

**-Pk**


	5. Epilogue: Turning Point

**Okay, so this is probably the longest epilogue, ever. This is the true last chapter of Unhinged, and I want to thank all of you that have stuck with it.**

**Just one quick note that I think I forgot to mention: When I had Grell use the americanized nickname "Bassy", it's actually because I find it to be quite mocking and condescending. So it's an "add insult to injury" kinda thing. **

**Anyways, on with it!**

**Cheers! **

**-Pk**

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><p>Grell threw his head back, moaning wantonly, in pure bliss as William's skillful tongue circled his head, teasing him and bringing him almost to the brink before stopping. Grell's acid-tone eyes cracked open and he glared down at the black haired man in a way that made him shiver. William lifted himself up; casting a glance back at the door to make sure it was locked, and settled himself in Grell's lap, slipping Grell's length into himself with his own, long, drawn out moan deep in the back of his throat. Everything about this was so wrong but at this point, neither of them cared. The office door was locked, their initial morning paperwork was done, and they weren't scheduled for any new recruit training today. Which was unusual, but they took it in stride.<p>

William grasped the back of Grell's chair, on either side of his head, as Grell dug his nails into William's hips, bracing him. The redhead had slid down in his chair, his legs spread wide to keep him from falling out as William lifted himself slowly, torturously and then slid back down, his open shirt and half undone tie falling forward on Grell's chest. Grell couldn't help but stare as William rode him, slowly, his half-dressed state just making the scene hotter. His white dress shirt was open, tie hanging loosely, vest and suit jacket missing and pants hastily shoved away so that one leg was still caught in them. Grell groaned as William leaned down, resting his head on Grell's shoulder and nipping at his neck. Grell slid one hand down, gripping William and stroking him loosely, his movements matching William's slow and languorous pace, causing William to bite down hard on Grell's neck. Grell gasped, thrusting up hard, hitting William's sweet spot and causing the man to groan.

"Grell…" William moaned, his spring green eyes opening only briefly as he caught Grell's lips, plunging his tongue in the red reaper's mouth, mindful of those razor sharp teeth. Grell took William's tongue and sucked it, making William moan and ride Grell harder. In turn, Grell picked up the pace; his free hand leaving William's hip to slide under the loose white shirt. Hastily, William shoved open Grell's still buttoned shirt, sliding his hands up the lean planes of Grell's body, stopping and playing with his sensitive peaks. The redhead squirmed, bucking up and making William slam down into him. It was just much too slow for Grell now and, in one quick movement, they were up and out of the chair as Grell shoved William onto his desk, sending his stuff flying, and slammed harshly into Will, wrapping the black reaper's legs around his waist. It was William's turn to throw his head back (the crack sounding quite painful, though he didn't seem to notice) and moan wantonly. One hand on Will's hip and the other on his leaking member, Grell slammed in repeatedly, keeping the same pace with his strokes.

"Fuck, Grell!" William was lost in the sensations as he gripped Grell's desk behind his head with enough force to start to splinter the redwood. Grell grinned and chuckled as his name continued to fall from the man's lips. He loved how vocal William got, especially since he was so quiet normally. Pulling William towards him in time with his thrusts, Grell released William's cock, instead reaching up and grabbing one of William's hands. The black haired man looked confused for a second before Grell moved his hand to his own cock and wrapped it around. William moaned again, feeling so close, but not there yet, and stroked himself in time with Grell's thrusts. The redhead almost lost it then, grabbing William's free hand and twining their fingers together as he leaned down, biting hard on William's neck. In the time they had been together, Grell had learned that William not only liked being bitten, but loved it, and, true to form, William uttered a small scream when Grell's razor fangs pierced his skin. It was too much for the redhead as he came, hard, deep inside William's body. William felt his lover come inside him and released, his essence spilling all over his hand and stomach. They slouched there, on Grell's desk, both their bodies humming with post-coital bliss for what seemed like forever before Grell finally moved.

Slowly, he removed himself from William's limp form and sat with a thud back in his chair, belt buckle jingling quietly, and reached into the bottom right-hand drawer of his desk, pulling out a box of tissues. He cleaned himself off first, before buckling his pants, and then proceeded to clean the still unmoving William, making him twitch with every swipe of his still sensitive member. William tried, and failed, to glare at him but gave up as he was content to lie at the odd angle he was in on the desk. Once he was cleaned up, however, he finally slid off, hitching his pants up before buttoning his shirt and fixing his tie. Grell was grinning at him, his shirt, vest, ribbon and coat already fixed, the messy, short red hair left alone. William envied Grell that: now that he kept his hair short, Grell's red locks were always in some state of disarray, making it impossible to tell when he'd just been playing with it a lot and when it was sex hair. Of course, since William let it hang down like he had in his academy days, his wasn't so obvious, but people could still tell. He was mortified when Ronald had given him a big grin and thumbs up after walking out of the office after a similar situation last week. His, unlike Grell's, didn't naturally stick up, after all. So the fact that it was sticking up in odd angles from where Grell had gripped it clued the young Shinigami off, making William avoid him for the next several days. Gathering his vest and jacket, he put them on and flattened his hair again before fixing his pants and perching himself on the edge of Grell's desk.

"You know, I can't help but think we had something to do today." He said. It wasn't like William to forget things but with all the excitement that morning, he felt he was excused. Grell shrugged, pulling his gloves back on. William had to admit, he liked the way Grell held himself now; messy hair and eyeliner, uniform shirt, vest and gloves but with Madame Red's coat, actually worn pulled up on his shoulder's like a normal coat now, at least while in the office, ribbon and heeled boots. It just fit Grell so much. Even the red glasses with the ornamental chain that William used to hate so much. William leaned over, capturing the man's lips and making Grell smile around the kiss. Something caught William's eye as he pulled back slightly, and he gestured to it.

"Hey Grell, what's that?" He asked, pointing at the half-hidden card under the desk. Grell reached down, grabbing it. He flipped open the fancy white card and read it, jumping up as he was finished.

"Shit! William we forgot about the wedding!" He grabbed William's hand and ran out the door, dragging the black reaper along with him. William felt incredibly stupid in that moment. Of course today was the wedding! That's why they didn't have any new recruits to teach or any assignments to go on. The card fluttered to the floor, still open as the reapers red and black ran out.

_Grell and William,_

_I would like to personally invite you to my wedding to Ciel, as my honoured guests, for returning my fiancée to his loving self. It has been years since he has been so happy and everyone in the Phantomhive household said it was all thanks to you. The date is September 18__th__. Please come! _

_Sincerely yours, _

_The future Lady Phantomhive, Elizabeth Midford. _

The card had arrived about a month beforehand, delivered by the eccentric Undertaker and sealed with the Midford crest. The silver reaper had tried several times to read the card over their shoulders before finally just snatching it away, holding it above their heads (seeing as even without his boots he was several inches taller than either of them) until Ronald came around and jabbed him in the side, making the tall man squirm and crack up. Grell and William had both given the gold reaper a weird look, but Ronald had just shrugged. They had come to the conclusion that it was just one of those things that he had found out staying with Undertaker at his shop for so long. Not long after, Ronald himself had gotten an invite for his part in the ordeal and even the Undertaker had one, having announced his own by bursting into William's bedroom while they were in the middle of a romp. After staring for several seconds, the eccentric man grinned and asked if he could join, leading to a very interesting rest of the evening. William grinned to himself as Grell stopped them in front of the Phantomhive manor, straightening his clothes and trying to flatten his hair. A year had passed since the day they "freed" Ciel Phantomhive and Sebastian Michaelis, and they had had no more trouble with either of them. Tanaka was waiting on the front steps for them, along with Ronald Knox, in his normal work clothes and the Undertaker, looking pretty much the same aside from the festive ribbon tied around his hat and a new sash, both obviously compliments of Elizabeth Midford, seeing as they were an eye-watering shade of pink.

"Mr. Sutcliff, Mr. Spears. How nice of you to join us! Mr. Knox kindly informed me that you were in the middle of your daily exercises and would be along shortly." Tanaka smiled, his kind old face showing no hint of understanding what Ronald meant. Will went a shade of pink to rival that adorning the Undertaker as said madman burst into a flurry of unsuppressed giggles. Grell was unphased and simply followed the other reapers and the old man in, being lead through the mansion and into the back garden, where a gazebo was set up along with a handful of people in chairs. It was an extremely small wedding, considering it was among the nobility but such was expected out of the Phantomhive house. They were, after all, a very private family. The reapers followed Tanaka to their places in the second row of the right hand side, behind the obviously appalled Midford family. Grell smiled, flashing his razor sharp teeth, and sat right behind the Marchioness Midford, making the strict woman look thoroughly uncomfortable. With William on his left and Undertaker on his right, he felt quite comfortable, and even spared a moment to chuckle at Ronald, on William's left, flirting across the way with Mey-Rin. He nudged William and pointed at the Midford nanny, Paula (seeming to be quite jealous), which caused William to give the gold reaper an exasperated look to make him behave.

Tanaka had taken his seat beside Sebastian, who was opposite of Paula and looking uncharacteristically weary. After Tanaka was Snake, then Bard, opposite of the Marquis Midford, Marchioness Midford and Edward, the Midford son. Behind them were Mey-Rin, Soma, Agni and finally Pluto, those four sitting opposite the four Shinigami. Grell saw Sebastian glaring at him and waved daintily, making Sebastian turn an interesting shade of green. William snickered. The reapers saw Ciel learn over to Sebastian, irritably.

"What are _they_ doing at _my _wedding?" He hissed, blue eyes glaring into the still alien chocolate brown ones. Sebastian sighed, casting them a disdainful gaze.

"They're Lady Elizabeth's honoured guests, my lord. There was nothing I could do about it. And I'm quite sure, by the way they all look so amused, that they can here every word we're saying." Sebastian cast another weary gaze at them before straightening up in his seat, Ciel returning to his position in front of the priest as the string quartet behind the gazebo started to play. Everyone was silent as the Marquis Midford, having left his seat shortly after the reapers took their's, led his daughter up the aisle. Elizabeth had turned into a beautiful young woman, somewhat slight and missing her pigtails now. Instead her golden ringlets hung in a loose bun, several pieces falling artfully down. Her green eyes were excited and she smiled brightly at the Shinigami as she past them and took her place before the priest, her face hidden by the translucent white veil. In her hands were a dozen bright pink roses, tied in a white cloth with a pink ribbon. The priest cleared his throat as the Marquis returned to his seat.

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today—"

"Earrrllll? Are you out hereee?" the harsh voice cut through the ceremony, startling the quartet and the guests alike. Grell snickered, recognizing the voice as Ciel ground his teeth. The Earl Phantomhive practically hissed at his butler.

"What is _he_ doing here?" Ciel glared as Lau, accompanied as always by Ran Mao, wandered his way into view. All the reapers were snickering by now.

"Ahh Earl! Is today your wedding? My invitation must have been lost by the courier then." Lau smiled and shooed Pluto (who was content to sit on the ground) out of his seat and took it, Ran Mao perched, as always, on his lap. Still smiling, Lau gestured to the priest.

"Please continue. I hadn't expected the little Earl to make such a fuss about my being late." Ciel looked like he was going to murder the Chinaman and the Undertaker lost it, loud guffaws tearing through his throat until he hiccupped himself to relative silence a minute or so later. The Midfords looked absolutely horrified that these were their daughter's guests. The priest cleared his throat and started again.

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to join Earl Ciel Phantomhive and Lady Elizabeth Midford in holy matrimony…"

All in all, the ceremony only lasted a little while, with each saying their vows before Ciel placed the ring on Elizabeth's finger gently. Grell clasped William's hand as they watched the two share a brief, but honest kiss and the music started again, this time a full orchestra instead of a string quartet. The reception was being held inside, in the grand hall, and the guests filed in, congratulating Ciel and Elizabeth on the way.

The grand hall was decorated with somewhat toned down versions of the decorations Grell remembered from the first time he met Elizabeth, all of them matching the wedding's theme of white and pink. It was set up as a ball would be set up, with small tables here and there but mainly just a large, open dance floor and the orchestra off to one side. As soon as everyone was inside, the music started and Sebastian, along with Mey-Rin, left their positions as guests and started serving drinks and small finger-foods, including Sebastian's famous curry bread. Grell, his days at the House of Barnett kicking in, took one of the trays on habit and started going around with the tea. William and Ronald both looked baffled by this , but the Undertaker and Lau both looked amused. Ciel, however, was appalled.

"You blasted klutz, put it down before you—!" He stopped, midsentence, as Grell spun the tray in his right hand, using the left to pour the tea out perfectly into five delicate cups, not a single drop spilling as he replaced the teapot in the center and looked to Ciel, Elizabeth and the Midfords.

"Would you care for some sugar, or milk?" He asked, Elizabeth squealed delightedly as he plopped four cubes in her's, one in her father's, three in each her mother and brother's and then five in Ciel's, stirring them quickly and adding just a dash of milk to the young Earl's as well, dumbfounding him. They each took their cup and were astonished at the perfection.

"How do you…?" Ciel trailed off as Sebastian came up to his side, looking both stunned and annoyed. Grell grinned. He was probably pissed that Grell had acted the fool while he was here.

"Please. I took care of Anne for nearly three years. It was only us in that house, after all, no one else, outside the cleaning staff. But we never really saw them. I only acted the fool to not break my disguise, Earl. I still remember how Angelina takes her tea. Strong, with six sugars, a splash of milk and a hint of mint, to keep her stomach settled. Her favourite meal was lamb chops, medium rare, with salad and soup and a baked potato. She liked her baths to almost the point of scalding and always took them before bed. She preferred to sleep in the right side of the bed, facing the window and was quite the blanket hog." Grell laughed, remembering his time spent with Madame Red. She was so different than William. But he loved them both. "She found it amusing the way I can't see without my glasses." He smiled a sad smile and Elizabeth patted his hand. Setting the tea tray down, he grabbed a flute of champagne from Sebastian and held it in his right hand, trapping it gently with a spoon to get the attention of the mingling people.

"If I could have your attention? I'd like to read a toast, left to me by Angelina Durless, for her nephew's wedding. Just a moment of your time, then, to honour the wishes of a loving woman who can't be here to see her family's happiness." He paused, reaching into his coat and bringing out an envelope sealed with a seal William had never seen before. He assumed it was Madame Red's. Annoyed, he huffed as Grell read.

"_My greatest blessing to my loving nephew and his beautiful new wife! I'm sorry I won't be there to tell you myself but I have left instructions to Grell to read this at your wedding, and to Elizabeth to make sure he does. I want to wish you the best, Ciel, and hope you treat your wife as well as your father treated my sister. Elizabeth is a wonderful girl and incredibly committed to you, and you should make sure to keep her happy. _

_Now I have something I need to say to you, Ciel, that must be said to this entire room. I wish for you to not begrudge Grell what happened to me._" Grell paused, a soft look on his face. William felt his blood start to boil. He really did hate hearing Grell talk about that woman, after all. "_What he did was on my own instructions. I had him do what he did to set me free of the life that made me so miserable. It was selfish, but I needed to move on, and that was the only way. I wish you to stop any grudge you have towards Grell Sutcliff, for he did not do anything I didn't ask him to. We planned my death. I knew what would happen. I love you Ciel, and I wish you all the best. That includes letting the hate out of your heart. _

_Congratulations, my darling family._"Grell stopped reading and raised his glass again. "On behalf of Madame Red: Here's to the happy couple! Cheers!" The echo of "cheers" was heard all around the room, aside from one voice that was missing; William was standing, staring at Grell with an accusing look on his face. Grell downed his champagne as William crossed the room. Ciel and Elizabeth were talking quietly amongst themselves and just as William went to speak, Elizabeth spoke up.

"It was you who killed my Auntie Anne, Grell?" She sounded so sad that Grell felt guiltier than ever.

"She asked me to. She was really sick." He answered, setting the empty flute on Sebastian's tray, who looked thoroughly annoyed by this. Ciel's face hardened.

"What do you mean?" He snapped, looking furious. Grell sighed.

"She was slated to die from the infection that was eating away at her body from the inside out. It would have been very painful and completely degrading, which is why I did what I did." He shot back, baring those razor fangs. The Midfords paled and Elizabeth looked shocked.

"Auntie Anne… That's what she meant when she said that she asked you to set her free from her miserable life?" Elizabeth asked. Grell nodded, opening his mouth to speak, just to be cut off mid sentence by William.

"I think we need to talk, Grell." William's face was cold, distant, and furious. He hated hearing about Madame Red. She was the only person aside from William that Grell said he legitimately loved, instead of just having little flights of fantasy about or just liked annoying, like Sebastian. It made William incredibly jealous and he couldn't stand the feeling. To have him talk so much about her at a _wedding_, of all things, was just too much. Grell looked annoyed, but simply pulled out a business card and signed his name on the back of it, handing it to Elizabeth. She made a small noise, sounding impressed.

"You're left-handed, Mr. Grell?" She asked, making Grell grin (the Midfords decided at that point to go talk to Soma and Agni loudly about the curry bread, Edward taking the chance to dance with a stunned looking Paula) and flash those razor fangs again.

"Yes, I am." He said, pointing to the card. "Just give that to the Undertaker if you ever need anything, Lady Elizabeth. This might be a while." The redhead turned, stalking forward and dragging William away by the upper arm.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Grell hissed, once they were out of earshot. William yanked his arm out of Grell's grip and stepped back. He really did not want to be touched right now.

"My problem? My problem is that you keep fucking talking on and on about that _woman _at a fucking wedding!" William spat at Grell. The redhead stepped back, looking shocked.

"You're freaking out because I'm talking about Angelina with her _family_?" Grell bared his teeth, growing increasingly furious. He had dealt with William's tendency towards jealousy for a year, even going so far as to put his photo of himself and Madame Red in his desk drawer when William was staying in his room with him. But this, starting a fight like this was a bit too much. William snarled at him. By this time, the entire small wedding was staring at them, Ronald and Undertaker both uneasy. They knew just how vicious William and Grell's fights could get.

"No, I'm freaking out because you're acting like you miss her!" William yelled. His temper was coming through and he was shaking. In the blink of an eye he had his shears, more out of instinct than anything. The motion did not go unmissed by Grell however.

"I _do_ miss her! I regret every day what we had to do! And what, are you going to attack me for it? Sometimes I really think I made a mistake William!" The silence was pounding. Grell's face was flushed with anger and his eyes were shining with unshed tears, but whether from what he said or the embarrassment of fighting in public was unknown.

"…A mistake? What, you think we're a mistake?" William swung his shears, pointing them at Grell's throat. The red reaper's face went blank and he stood up straight, his short hair gleaming in the light as he towered over William. Everyone in the room knew that there was danger now. The Phantomhive servants were surrounding the Midfords and the newlyweds. Ran Mao had her clubs out and Agni was in front of Soma, looking ready to attack in a moment. But Grell wasn't interested in anything but the fight at hand. Finally he grinned, those fangs gleaming and his acid tone eyes cold. William felt the blood drain from his face but kept his hands steady.

"Angelina Durless never cheated on me, William." He said, quietly. There was a gasp from the other reapers and the three young women of the group. William shears dropped.

"Grell…" He said. It had been a mistake. It had just been a mistake and Grell said he had been forgiven and—

"Don't. Do not call me by my name. You don't deserve it. I told you to let it go because I thought you'd have enough sense to not do anything stupid ever again. But you expect me to forgive you? And when it was one of our damn students? I never forgave you." Grell adjusted his glasses in a sick mimic of the normal movement made by William, before turning and starting to walk away, addressing William from over his shoulder. "Angelina understood me, William. It seems that you don't. You're fired. Get your shit out of my office—"

William's shears went snapping past Grell's head, taking off a few strands of red hair. Grell turned, his eyes flashing and, in a burst of silver and ruby, his chainsaw roared through the air, colliding with William's shears. A second swing and the clang of metal on metal, and the head of William's death scythe went flying away. There was a collective gasp from both the reapers and the former demons.

William paled completely. The only thing a death scythe couldn't cut was another scythe.

Except Grell's chainsaw had just torn through William's shears.

Two more swings and the shears were down to half their size. William backed up, dropping the remains as Grell held the saw level with William's head. William saw the huge mistake he had made. For years he thought that Grell was right-handed. It was scary to see him fight right handed. If he was doing that with weak swings the whole time…

"Grell, please, calm down!" He said, raising his hands to show he was not going to try anything else now. Grell scoffed, switching the saw off, but not lowering it. All the eyes in the hall widened. Grell had customized his blade again. Instead of once blade every five links on the chain, there was now a blade on every link, making it much more deadly. Each one was razor-sharp and the gap in the base that had allowed it to become jammed before now had a grate over it, eliminating its only weak point. Even the blade itself was longer now too, making its swing that much larger. William swallowed, nervous.

"I will do no such thing, William." He said. He saw the other two reapers, their faces unsure, pull their scythes out. Grell lowered his scythe to his side. "Fine. If you won't leave, I will. I need someone that'll stand by me no matter what. I need someone that actually loves me, William. For all your kind gestures and sweet words, for the past three and a half centuries you treated me like crap. You beat on me, degrade me, demote me. You abuse me and cheat on me. Hell, the reason I love Angelina is because she understands. Do you remember the office party right before I left? Where you pulled me into your office and had at me, got me all bothered and got yourself some… Well, for the sake of the youths in the room I'll just call it a 'happy ending'? Of course not. You were drunk as fuck because you kept accepting drinks from the higher-ups as you laughed at their corny jokes and kissed so much ass it got you promoted. Then you show up next to me, drag me away from my nice debate of proper soul-retrieval with Alan and Eric. For what? To be told it was all a mistake? Oh, my favourite part was when you handed me money and told me 'thanks, I needed that'. You stupid fucker." William's face was red with fury when Grell looked up again. They stared each other down for a couple minutes before William uttered the worst possible thing he could have said to Grell.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have if you didn't act just like those women you hated." The room went silent as Ronald and Undertaker tried to drag William away. Even Ciel and Sebastian were scared by now, since they knew Grell's temper and what he had done to Mary Kelly. They had a feeling he was about to do the same to William. But then Grell shocked them all by bursting out laughing. And when he gazed at them all, what they saw in his eyes made the servants of Phantomhive actually escort the Midfords and Paula out of the building, into a carriage and send them away quickly.

What was left of Grell's sanity had broken.

Grell had broken.

Once the Midfords and Paula were gone, all the servants took up their places, along with the reapers, Lau, Ran Mao, Soma and Agni. If they were lucky, maybe one of them would survive. Slowly, Grell raised his scythe. They all braced themselves, but the thing was never switched on. It just stayed as it was until Grell switched it to his other hand, and buried it deep into the marble floor of the hall. Instead, he pulled out a small book. The reapers gasped, realizing what it was. William gathered his shear's back together, quickly mending the scythe. It was about all he could do, and it wouldn't last long, but he felt he might need it.

"whose Cinematic Record is that?" He asked the deranged redhead. Grell just smiled, that sad smile of his, before flipping open the book and setting it down on the ground, his left hand bringing the record up and out in a slow, controlled manor. The Undertaker tensed next to William. Slowly, the record became a whole, translucent figure, with short red hair and a curvy form, the ghost of a red dress adorning its body. The ghostly figure of Madame Red stood there, merely an echo of what she was. Ronald and William both looked confused, but Undertaker was pale and had a white knuckled grip on his scythe, now openly pointed at Grell. It was Ronald who finally asked why.

"Unlike other immortals, Shinigami can only be created." The Undertaker said, like it explained everything in the world. It made Grell look up and grin at them, flashing those razor fangs.

"That's right. We can only be created. And once we're created, we forget that we were once human. Of course, that's because our creators erase our memories. Unless of course, one is strong enough to resist that stage of our birth, which is rare. In fact, the last recorded case was, oh, almost five centuries ago right? And you created him. On accident, wasn't it? The soul you transformed was so unstable he had to be locked up for the first hundred years of his life, resulting in a late graduation from the academy, three hundred and fifty years ago. Roughly." He grinned as William and Ronald stared at him. The Undertaker looked stunned. By now, most of the humans had realized he didn't intend to do anything to them and were merely watching, amused. "Do you remember the day I died, Undertaker? I do. I remember welcoming you in open arms, because my life as a human was so horrible I wanted to die. But it was a demon, wasn't it, that attacked you? Because he had been promised my soul by someone as payment? So when I died, he was furious. My own cinematic record was still in this stage of not collected and yet already dead, so when that demon tore your throat, face and hand open and your blood, Shinigami blood, splattered across my soul, I was born." The room was shocked by the confession, none more so than William and Ronald. Still the ghostly Madame Red stood between the book and Grell's hand.

"And that's when I retired, yes. I also remember you absorbing all the power you could from me, to the point where I couldn't even heal properly." Undertaker's scythe was pointed directly at Grell. "You became something we had never seen before. We had to do what we did. I had to leave because of it. But your memory… We made sure it was gone. How'd you find out?" Grell looked over at Sebastian and Ciel, pointing.

"When they attacked me, I died for a little while, while my body healed. Or maybe it's better explained as I fell within myself. When I woke up, I remembered. Everything. I remembered being hurt as a mortal. I remembered a demon coming after me and running away. I remember someone running me over with a horse and then you showing up. Then the demon showing up. I always kind of thanked that demon. Because if not for Claude Faustus, I wouldn't have been reborn as a Shinigami, after all. That's why I let him take Alois Tancy's soul. A life for a life." Grell removed his hand from the top of the shadow-figure's head, removing first his red jacket, tossing it onto his chainsaw, then his left glove, setting that down on top of it. He brought his wrist up to his face and grinned. The other reapers realized what Grell was going to do the split second before he was going to do it.

Grell chomped down on his wrist, a burst of blood issuing from his lips, splattering on Madame Red's book. The shadow-Angelina twisted, a scream coming from both the opaque throat and the book itself as the blood absorbed into the book's pages. Grell set his hand back on Madame Red's head and the blood flowed through the memories. Before the eyes of every person in that room, the form of Madame Red solidified, the image of the dress falling away to leave her bare skin (both Ciel and Elizabeth closed their eyes and turned away at that) making most of the men in the room stare in an inappropriate way and Lau chuckle lightly to himself. Slowly Ran Mao lowered her clubs as she and Lau meandered over to the red pair as the Madame collapsed, Grell catching her easily and grabbing his coat, tossing her coat over her to preserve her modesty. The cinematic record book was no more. Angelina, like all Shinigami, was a living version of her book. There was a light scar between her breasts where Grell's chainsaw had pierced her and it was Elizabeth that broke the silence.

"Aunt Anne!" She exclaimed, going to run over to her, but having Ciel stop her. Sebastian stepped forward, looking weary and ragged like he had since Ciel had turned into a demon six years previous. A took one step then another, like he couldn't believe his eyes. Grabbing the rifle Bardroy had leveled at them, he shouldered it himself, clearly intending to shoot the group of them. However, Grell had other ideas. Reaching into his and Madame Red's coat, he whipped out with what looked like a flash of silver, before, in what was obviously a cruel mockery, he threw it, the flashes turning out to be silver knifes from the table he had set the tea tray on earlier. Four of them went flying into the air and with sickening thumps, landed in Sebastian; one between the eyes, one in the heart, one in the throat and one piercing the hand on the trigger. The man fell backwards, struggling for breath as he drown in his own blood. The other servants and Ciel, shocked, started for him, only to stop suddenly.

"Lau!" Ciel exclaimed. The Chinaman and his fierce bodyguard were there, Ran Mao brandishing the clubs at them. Ciel held them back, knowing she could go toe to toe with both Grell and Sebastian if she chose. None of them could handle her. Lau chuckled and hefted Sebastian into his arms, carrying the dying man easily.

"Sorry, Earl. It's just good business. The Madame and Grell far outdo you now, and I'd rather be sided with the stronger party." He walked back to the red reaper, clutching the spasming man as Ran Mao stalked backwards, still holding the large clubs. By now, Madame Red was standing and she scanned the place with large, golden- emerald eyes sightlessly. Grell fussed in his vest, pulling out a small, feminized version of his own glasses, placing them on her face. Suddenly her eyes lit up as her world came into focus, and she grinned.

"It's been a long time, Grell. I was wondering if you were ever going to fulfill your promise." She said, her voice as silk smooth as ever. Ciel and Elizabeth couldn't believe it. There she was, living once again, only now with an ethereal presence to her that all the Shinigami possessed. Her golden-emerald eyes, looking so much like beautiful jewelry with their colours, landed on Ciel and Elizabeth. She smiled, a sad smile, but didn't say anything. Lau and Ran Mao stood next to them, obviously aligned with the red reapers. Grell grinned at her and, like all reapers can, materialized a death scythe. His chainsaw was still embedded in the marble in front of him, however.

This scythe was instead a pair of sickles, small and easily handled in two hands. The ornate handles were shaped like roses at the top and immediately William recognized the material. It was from Grell's broken scythe, the blade he had originally ejected into the trash in William's office before gathering it back out when he had gotten back to the office after the ordeal with the demons. He handed them to Madame Red, who held them delicately, giving and experimental swipe of the blade. She smiled at Grell and scanned the room again.

"They're perfect. Let's go. I need proper clothing and I want to go home, for a bit." Grell, Lau and Ran Mao started heading for the exit (Grell grabbing his chainsaw on the way) but were blocked by William and the servants of Phantomhive. Sebastian had finally stopped moving, but that didn't seem to mean anything to them, as they demanded his return. Grell grinned and held out his hand, not to any of the others in front of him, but to Ronald and Undertaker, who were hanging unsurely at the side. In Grell's hand was a fine, silver rimmed pair of glasses that William recognized as Undertaker's from before he retired. The madman looked at them, then Grell.

"You want me to come with you." He stated, the humour gone from his voice. Grell grinned broader and nodded, Madame Red on his arm and the Chinese citizens behind him. Slowly, the Undertaker sized him up before reaching out with a long, talon-like hand and taking the glasses, slipping them on and giving a sigh of relief as the world came into sharp relief after so long without them. He stood at Grell's right side, his scythe now leveled at Bardroy, who had his gun once again pointed at Grell. "I have long thought, that the way the bureaucracy is run is wrong." The Undertaker admitted. William couldn't believe his ears. His heart pounded. Now it was two reapers to three, though one was a newborn. Still. He didn't like these odds.

"Ronald, we have to stop them." William commanded, leveling his scythe at them. Ronald stood half way between both groups now, about arm's length from either one. He looked torn. Glancing from William to Grell, he made an apologetic face towards William and backed up.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Spears. But if Grell wasn't there to keep me outta trouble, I woulda been kicked out a while ago. He saved me more times than I care to admit. I have to stand by him." Ronald stood tall (a comedic effort for the short man) and looked William straight in the eyes. "Besides, it's like he says. You're cruel, abusive, you like to beat people and you're power hungry. And I know for a fact that that wasn't the first time you, well… I saw all the other students, William. And I know you did it because you thought he was cheating on you." Grell looked incredibly hurt for just a moment before his face dropped back into a blank stare.

"Thank you for telling me Ronald. You're a true friend. Now, take them out. Do not kill them, and for god's sake, don't hurt Ciel or Elizabeth. But take them out. Leave William to me. I'm sending the Library a message." Grell grinned as all four reapers' scythes vanished, Madame Red buttoning her coat so it covered her better. William gulped as Grell stepped forward, a soft smile on his face. William, not about to be called a coward, stepped forward too, so he was face to face with Grell in the ten foot gap. Grell reached up, cradling William's face in his left hand. The red reaper captured his lips briefly, his eyes shining again. William was shocked, but returned the kiss anyway. After a moment, Grell pulled away, looking straight into William's spring green eyes. For one , fleeting heartbeat he thought Grell might ask him to come with them, then Grell's face hardened.

"Goodbye, William. I will always love you." Grell smashed his head into William's, causing the black haired man to reel, before his side erupted in pain as Grell's heel dug into his side and he went flying. He heard gunshots erupt and Pluto howl, before he skittered to a halt on the ground. He looked up, seeing Grell still standing amongst the fighting, watching him. Slowly, he looked around. Agni and Soma were locked in a fierce battle with Lau (who had set the prone form of Sebastian down) and Ran Mao, Soma and Lau exchanging blows with swords and Ran Mao going one on one with Agni, those huge clubs on the ground next to Sebastian but she was just as fierce with hand-to-hand combat. Madame Red had taken Mey-Rin's guns and now the former assassin was attacking her ruthlessly with a knife, the Madame dodging easily, her instincts as a Shinigami kicking in, and landed a harsh blow to Mey-Rin's stomach that sent her dancing back several feet. The Undertaker was doing quite well dodging the bullets being fired by Ciel from a distance, protecting both Tanaka and Elizabeth, and the explosives that were being thrown by Bard. Snake joined them, sending a well-placed but futile kick towards the madman's head, causing Undertaker to grab him by the ankle and use him as a projectile into Bard as the Undertaker danced back again, avoiding more bullets from Ciel. Elizabeth had gotten over her shock and was now firing openly at Ronald, who was having no trouble dodging them and the objects thrown by Finnian, as well as Pluto's claws. The hall was too small for the hound to change and he seemed to know it as he instead slashed at the small reaper. Ronald caught the curtain rod that was being swung by Finny and instead hit both Finnian and Pluto with it, knocking them backwards and into a heap with Bard and Snake. That was four down. Slowly, William rose.

He was just on his feet when Agni and Soma went soaring past him, and he saw them hit the ground, unconscious, as Lau went and picked up the prone form of Sebastian again. Finally there was a crack and William looked over to Mey-Rin, her arm broken as she lay sprawled in front of Ciel, in pain but still alive. Madame Red huffed and stood back with the Chinese and the other reapers. Finally it was just Grell and William left. Will felt like it was the first day of his final all over again as Grell stalked forward. The déjà vu was just worsened as Grell spoke the same line as he did all those years ago.

"Are you defying me?" He said, his face cruel. William dashed forwards, aiming a strike at his head only to have the red reaper dodge easily. William brought his shears up, intent on staying alive and Grell caught them, using the momentum to swing William up. The black haired man twisted in the air and saw his shears clatter across the ground when Grell threw them as he landed on his feet and spun, aiming a kick at Grell's ribs instead. Grell caught his leg and twisted, sending William into the air again before following him, striking him once, twice, thrice in the ribs before aiming a final kick at his back and sending William to the ground. William knew his ribs were broken now and Grell landed just next to him, grabbing him by the ankle and dragging him across the ground in a circle, winging him into a wall. Will slid to the ground, looking at Grell, dazed. His head was pounding and he could feel it bleeding. Even his glasses were bent and sitting at a funny angle. Grell walked up to him as William tried, futilely because his back was so damaged now, to raise himself up. The best he could do was stare up from on his elbows. Grell bent down and plucked the glasses from his face.

"Tsk tsk. You should be taking good care of your glasses William." Grell said as he stood to full height again. William watched, unable to stop it, as Grell's red and black boot smashed into his face. The world went black as William slumped down, unconscious but still alive. Grell made a disgusted noise and dropped William's glasses in front of him, stalking away. He joined his group again and linked his arm with Madame Red's, walking out towards the front of the building. Ciel and Elizabeth had their guns pointed at them, but Grell merely spoke to them, made no attempt to harm them at all.

"Let this be an example. Change is coming to this filthy world. This world, the next world, all of the worlds. Change is coming. The officials from the Shinigami Library will be showing up soon. Make sure to tell them that." With that, Grell walked on, out into the night, taking one of the carriages for himself. With Ronald at the reigns with him, he rode away, leaving the Phantomhive mansion a battleground. But there was one thing that Ciel and his new wife knew for sure. This was only the beginning.

Grell had broken.

The battle had just begun.

* * *

><p><strong>I am planning on writing somewhat of a sequel. An idea come to me in a dream and I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it in another dream and while this is both the ending of Unhinged, it's also the beginning of Broken. So keep an eye out for it! It's going to be longer than this one and have all the characters. <strong>

**Besides, if you don't read Broken, you'll never know why Grell first killed, then stole Sebastian, right? :P**

**Yes I did just make that face. **

**Read and Review!**

**-Pk**

**Oh and, I have no idea how conventional weddings work. Or weddings back then. So all that is just me being lazy cause it wasn't truly important, aside from the obvious reasons why. **


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